Candidates are beginning to emerge in the effort to recall three Jefferson County school board members as the movement continues to clear hurdles to make the ballot.

As of Thursday evening, two candidates had declared their intentions to run for the seat held by Board President Ken Witt. The other two board members facing recall had each drawn one opponent at press time.

Ron Mitchell, a longtime Jeffco administrator, told The Colorado Statesman he will seek Witt’s District 5 seat. The district represents Littleton and parts of south Lakewood.

In Mitchell’s opinion, the stakes couldn’t be any higher.

“I would like to convey to your readers and voters that I believe this election is, if not the most important election in Jefferson County history, it’s certainly right up there,” Mitchell said. “At stake is the future of our public schools and certainly the future of our neighborhood schools.”

Witt, Board Vice President Julie Williams and Secretary John Newkirk each face a potential recall this November over policies and other actions that have stirred controversy over the last year and a half.

The three conservatives — who were swept into power by Jeffco voters in 2013 — make up the majority on the 5-member board.

Mitchell is a retired, 35-year Jeffco administrator. His work included head principal positions at Alameda and Columbine High Schools.

Mitchell believes the board majority has been influenced by outside interests.

“I am running because I believe the current board majority was put there using outside money,” he said. “And outside money comes with strings attached and, therefore, there is an agenda. And I don’t believe it’s in the best interest of the students of Jefferson County.”

Mitchell could be joined on the District 5 ballot by a former Jeffco school board member.

Paula Noonan, who served on the board from 2009 to 2013, aims to reclaim a seat.

Noonan holds a doctorate in English from the University of Denver and operates ColoradoCapitolWatch.com, a legislative bill-tracking service.

“I think he will be replaced,” Noonan said of Witt. “And one way or another, I think the people of Jefferson County need good options.”

“Ken’s a very decent guy, frankly. But, for whatever reason, and for whatever skill-set he’s bringing to the table, there’s been a lot of pushback with how he’s run things. Clearly, he doesn’t have a good relationship with people there.”

Witt did not respond to the emergence of the two candidates seeking his seat. Instead, he touted through an emailed statement the accomplishments made by the board over the last year and a half. He pointed to pay raises for staff and the expansion of school choice among the highlights of the board’s work.

“We were elected with the promise to equalize all public school funding, expand school choice, and to set academic achievement goals,” Witt wrote. “In the short year and a half that we have served on the Board, we have done all of this and more.”

Witt sees the recall as an opportunity.

“This recall attempt will serve to highlight the accomplishments of this board, staff and students,” he wrote. “Let’s get talking.”

Meanwhile, another candidate plans to seek Newkirk’s seat.

Susan Harmon, a Lakewood attorney, confirmed her candidacy for the District 2 seat, which represents cities that include Conifer, Evergreen, Lakewood and parts of Golden.

Harmon volunteers at the elementary school level on PTA boards and inside classrooms.

“I think families are concerned, worried about what the public education system is going to look like for their children,” she said. “I want to help make sure it’s going in the right direction.”

Newkirk wrote in an emailed response that he looks forward to having discussions with Harmon about the future of students in Jefferson County.

“Among my own priorities are to continue putting educational decisions in the hands of local parents and principals rather than federal bureaucrats, to recognize and reward effective teachers based on merit rather than simple seniority, and to ensure each child is equitably funded regardless of which public school he or she chooses to attend,” Newkirk wrote.

Newkirk added: “If the community prefers the old approach, I will accept their decision.”

And an Arvada business attorney will seek to replace Williams in District 1, which includes much of Arvada and Westminster.

Brad Rupert is a former president of the Arvada Chamber of Commerce. He is running to unseat Williams because he’s worried about the district losing quality teachers who might be turned off by the direction the board has taken the district.

“Jeffco schools is an enormous ship … and right now we’re having a little course deviation,” he said. “If we last two years the way we’re going, we’re going to have a major course deviation which will be a lot harder to correct.”

“If you lose people you have a big investment in, it’s a multi-year task to replace them. We can’t afford that.”

Any new candidate must collect a small number of petition signatures from registered Jeffco voters in order to appear on the ballot.

Plenty of signatures validated

The confirmation of candidacies occurred the same week the recall effort cleared an important hurdle.

The Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder’s Office determined Tuesday that it received more than enough valid signatures for the effort to appear on an upcoming ballot. The clerk’s office validated more than 30,000 signatures for each of the three recall targets, more than double the amount needed.

But recall organizers are curbing their enthusiasm because an election this November is not yet imminent.

That’s because a 15-day protest period began once the clerk’s office determined the sufficient number of signatures had been collected. During this time, any registered voter in Jeffco can file a challenge. If that happens, an election likely will not occur on Nov. 3.

If that’s the case, the school district will have to pay about a half a million dollars to hold a special election on another day. There would be no cost to the district for a Nov. 3 election because it is the regularly scheduled Election Day for two open school board seats.

“Now is the time for our opponents to step up and ask their supporters to not protest the overwhelming intent of the Jeffco petition signers,” said Wendy McCord, a recall organizer. “Should they choose to play games, opponents to the recall will cost the school district over half a million dollars, dollars that could otherwise be going to benefit our students.”

As of Thursday morning, there was little buzz involving potential protests, even from groups staunchly opposed to the recall effort.

Sheila Atwell of Jeffco Students First said her group won’t challenge the recall petition.

“I can assure you of that,” she said. “Very often, the courts have deferred to the voter to determine the veracity of the issue at stake. It doesn’t make sense to waste any time on that, especially if that means money to the district.”

Atwell said her organization will continue to educate the public about the good work she believes the board has accomplished.

“The misinformation started basically from the day after the board was elected,” she said. “It’s really disappointing that it’s gotten to this point.”

— Twitter: @VicVela1