AUBURN — A group of former city councilors will abandon their efforts to recall most members of the School Committee and take a more direct approach, challenging them at the polls.

Former City Councilors Mike Farrell and Ron Potvin said they would support a slate of candidates running under a tax reduction banner.

Farrell said the city’s requirements for creating a recall vote made them decide to change tack.

“Rather than spend our own money to pursue the recall, we decided to do this,” Farrell said

Farrell said he will seek the Ward 1 School Committee seat. Former Councilor Dan Herrick will seek Ward 3’s seat and Joe Gray will seek the Ward 5 seat.

Potvin and Bob Mennealy will seek the two at-large seats on the committee.

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“We’re leaving Ward 4 open for Tracey (Levesque, the sitting member from Ward 4) , if she decides to run again,” Farrell said Monday.

Levesque was the only member of the committee not targeted by the group’s recall effort. Other sitting School Committee members are Ward 1’s William Horton, Ward 2’s Bonnie Hayes, Ward 3’s Tom Kendall, Ward 5’s Larry Pelletier and at-large representatives Francois Bussiere and Laurie Tannenbaum.

Potvin said the group’s action plan seeks a tiered approach to replacing Edward Little High School that will be more acceptable to taxpayers, educational goals that are tied more realistically to city resources, future budgetary increases that match inflation and the end of the traditional half-day Wednesday schedule for Auburn’s elementary schools.

staylor@sunjournal.com


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