It has recently been discovered that longtime Alpena Board of Education Trustee, Gordon Snow, is in blatant violation of Michigan election law.
Gordon Snow has been a Trustee, according to his LinkedIn page for 17 years and 9 months. And, has been involved in teaching or administration in the district since 1966. That is a long time.
Below is his biography as seen on the Alpena Public Schools website:
His email is listed as: msnowg@alpenaschools.com
With such vast experience should come vast knowledge, right?
With so many years under his belt, and multiple election cycles, Mr. Snow should be highly cognizant of both the law concerning the proper usage of district electronic systems as well as the moral ramifications of using taxpayer funded systems to promote his own personal advantage.
We have received and, are sharing proof that Gordon Snow has broken state law. We will demonstrate that he is using Alpena Public School District email systems to assist in his reelection to the Alpena Board of Education. This is a direct violation of Michigan Campaign Finance Act 388 of 1976.
Snow’s self-interested behavior is putting teachers & staff at risk.
Not only is he breaking the law, the recipients of these emails are also unwittingly put at risk pursuant to Mr. Snow’s egregious solicitations – especially those who may act on his behalf. Each one of these Alpena School District staff members should know their risk, and ask themselves why he would so recklessly endanger all of them. Remember folks: a misdemeanor does make a criminal record.
Someone who is interested in the well-being of Alpena schools should not be putting so many teachers in the crosshairs of the law. He alone bears the full responsibility of knowing and following election laws.
Here is how the law breaks down.
To fully parse law, you need to put together the elements to complete the “statement”. I will break this down and notate the sections below.
First the definition:
MCL 169.211 Definitions; P.
(7) “Public body” means 1 or more of the following:
(c) A county, city, township, village, intercounty, intercity, or regional governing body; a council, school district, special district, or municipal corporation; or a board, department, commission, or council or an agency of a board, department, commission, or council.
This is the legal definition attributed to a School District and its board. Any verbiage which subsequently mentions “Public Body”, can apply to this matter.
Next, we have:
MCL 169.257 Contributions, expenditures, or volunteer personal services; prohibitions; communication referencing local ballot questions; violation as misdemeanor; penalty.
Sec. 57. (1) A public body or a person acting for a public body shall not use or authorize the use of funds, personnel, office space, computer hardware or software, property, stationery, postage, vehicles, equipment, supplies, or other public resources to make a contribution or expenditure or provide volunteer personal services that are excluded from the definition of contribution under section 4(3)(a).
Which is punishable as a misdemeanor as shown below:
(3) A person that knowingly violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable, if the person is an individual, by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or both…
Find it all here on the Michigan Legislature website. Or download the entire PDF.
It’s succinctly clear that this was knowingly done. Frankly, there’s not much more to say since this speaks clearly of its own accord. The following screenshots we obtained from our whistleblower will tell you all you need to know.
Oh, and by the way…
Thanks for the shoutout, Gordon! You’re right. Everyone should check out our website. 😊
What’s next?
Gordon needs to immediately withdraw his candidacy and announce his resignation at once. It is unclear if law enforcement will act or, if any charges will be filed. But this negligent malfeasance needs to be his last act as a part of the Alpena School District.
It will remain to be seen if any teachers, principals, or district staff acting on his behalf will face disciplinary or criminal actions in their part of using school district infrastructure to illegally promote an individual candidate.
The opinions & observations above are that of the author, Jeffrey Dobbs, a friend and partner to this movement.