Jaws dropped in Howell when Stacy Pasini — current V.P. and former president of the Howell Public Schools Board of Education (as well as far and away the top vote getter in her last two runs) — withdrew from the general election.
After 14 years on the school board, Pasini in a social media post blamed the “current political environment” for her withdrawal, which she says has “become increasingly divisive and adversarial, especially in non-partisan races.”
“Campaigns can sometimes shift focus away from issues and focus more on personal attacks, speculation, and efforts to damage reputations,” Pasini wrote. “While I understand that scrutiny can be part of an elected position, I am not willing to participate in a process that could compromise the integrity I have worked so hard to maintain, or subject my family and community relationships to this.”
The question on the mind of those of us who watch local politics closely is whether her withdrawal has anything to do with a recent episode of the Livingston County Republican Party’s official podcast, in which chair Deb Drick took Pasini to the woodshed. Drick complained mightily about Pasini’s vote on an appointment to fill a partial board term of five months, while painting her — without a shred of evidence — as a faux conservative.
I know where I’m putting my money.
“There’s nobody that trusts her to make a hard decision,” Drick said. “… I can’t believe she did that. How could (Pasini) claim she’s a conservative and pass up on Brandon (Barefield) or Stephanie (Leitch Kooiker)? And, you know, now we’ve got a liberal … board in Howell.
“We all know what that means.”
I am not sure we all do, but it appears Drick thinks something apocalyptic is about to happen in Howell, something far more dangerous than having someone’s opinion on candidates differ from hers.
The vote
The decision that caused the ire of Drick to rain down upon Pasini came after Steve Dault (who Drick, on behalf of the LCRP, takes credit for getting elected in 2024) resigned from the Howell school board in May. Eleven people applying to fill Dault’s term until the end of the year met the qualifications to run: Brandon Barefield; Stephanie Carney; Joe Cartwright; Adam Doby; Carrie Fairbanks; Breanne Green; Carolyn Glogoski; Stephanie (Leitch) Kooiker; J.J. Lewis; Mathew Lovrenich; and Stephanie Schlitter-Gutting.
To fill the open seat, the board used a voting process that assigned various points to each of the board members’ top three candidates, which winnowed the list from 11 to 2 after 3 rounds of ranking. When the dust cleared, Breanne Green, described by Drick as “seriously liberal,” received the most points.
Their flabbers be gasted
Drick agreed with Jake Curry, who commented online during the LCRP podcast that he was “flabbergasted” by the Howell school board vote.
“We all were,” Drick said on the podcast. “We were all watching that vote. … We’ve just had it with board members who, you know, say they’re conservative, but when push comes to shove, POW, you know, out comes the liberal stuff.
“So this was a bad move on (Pasini’s) part. … The last thing I need to do is get involved in another race, but, you know, it’s our community. This is what I’ve got elected to do. So, it’s our community, these are our kids.”
“The vote that Stacy did, did not support the conservative values of the community,” Drick said on the podcast, “so we’re running against her, and we’re asking everyone in the school district for support.”
Playing political hardball
When contacted for comment, Drick said no one should be surprised that the “mission of the Livingston Republican Party is to get Republicans elected.”
“Period.”
“I’m not sure why people question us when that is exactly what we do. As reported, Stacy voted to put a Dem on that board when she could have chosen Brandon Barefield, who is conservative. Why would she — or anyone else — expect the Republican Party to be OK with that and support her re-election?”
As well as having the Drick-approved stamp of being her kind of conservative, Barefield is also the husband of a member of the LCRP Executive Committee.
Drick said that Stephanie (Leitch) Kooiker and incumbent Courtney Tarara have the LCRP’s support for the two 6-year-terms, the race from which Pasini withdrew.
The other people on the ballot for the two 6-year seats are J.J. Lewis and Matthew Lovrenich.
Brandon Barefield has the LCRP’s blessing for the remainder of Dault’s term, which runs Jan. 1, 2027, to Dec. 31, 2030. He will be vying for the seat against Breanne Green.
Open season on Democrats
The question remains as to how Drick “knows” who is a Democrat. I haven’t a clue what Green’s political leanings are, and it shouldn’t matter because SCHOOL BOARDS ARE NONPARTISAN. (That said, Howell Republican state Rep. Jason Woolford has legislation languishing in Lansing that would make school board candidates declare a party affiliation. You can read about that here.)
So, I reached out to Green.
“Deb Drick has never spoken with me or asked about my political affiliation,” she said. “I’m not sure what she is basing that claim on. I have intentionally chosen not to affiliate myself with a political party.”
Green said that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have values or strongly held beliefs.
“Freedom and liberty are important to me, and part of that is maintaining the independence to think for myself. I do not want to be beholden to a political party or its executive committee.
“As a school board trustee, I take seriously my responsibility to be a good steward of the public resources entrusted to us. My responsibility is to the Howell Public Schools community and the taxpayers who support our schools.”
Green said she makes her decisions based on what she believes is best for Howell Public Schools, “not what any political organization expects of me.”
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Drick defines nonpartisanship differently.
While I agree with Merriam Webster — who defines non-partisan as “free from party affiliation, bias or designation” — Drick disagrees.
“Some people think nonpartisan means the candidate has no political leanings or that the candidate will vote absolutely in the middle once elected,” she said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Nonpartisan only refers to the section of the ballot the race resides.”
Saying that political leanings most times predict the stances of candidates, Drick added that “‘nonpartisan races shouldn’t have partisan parties involved’ is the battle cry for those who do not want their political beliefs known.”
HPS millage restoration/renewal
In light of the LCRP excommunicating four members of the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education for placing a bond issue before its voters, I asked Drick whether the LCRP will be weighing in on the Howell Public Schools request for voters to approve the renewal and restoration of the district’s non-homestead operating millage on the Nov. 3 ballot.
“We will certainly ask our questions and talk to them,” Drick said. “There are Howell board members that are typically very responsive to questions.”
You can read all about the LCRP kicking out those four members of the Brighton Board of Education — Roger Myers, BAS board president; Jennifer Marks, vice president; Katie Tierney, treasurer; and Alicia Urbain, trustee — by clicking here.
“Contrary to what has been reported, we don’t want our rings — or anything else — kissed. Nobody was removed because of a millage vote.” (This comment is a nod to an earlier piece I wrote about the LCRP kicking out the BAS school board members for supporting the district’s recent bond issue. You can read it here.)
What about Bedford and Marhofer?
So what will happen to Jason Bedford and Meg Marhofer? If not ranking Barefield high enough during the selection process is a reason to wage podcast war on Stacy Pasini, Drick and the LCRP will have to grapple with what to do with Bedford and Marhofer, who both voted for Green.
In the final ranking, Green was the top pick of both Bedford and Marhofer — both identified by Drick as “conservative Republicans” — while Doby was the top pick of Pasini, who Drick thinks isn’t conservative enough.
The official minutes of the meeting — including the rank voting — are below.
I’ve given you the CliffsNotes version of the rank voting here:
Round 1
Bedford: Barefield, Schlittler-Gutting, Fairbanks
Zurek: Green, Doby, Fairbanks
Marhofer: (Leitch) Kooiker, Barefield, Schlittler-Gutting
Pasini: Doby, Schlittler-Guttling, Green
Conn: Doby, Green, Fairbanks
TOP 3: Doby (13 points); Green (9 points); Barefield (8 points)
Round 2
Zurek: Green, Doby, Barefield
Marhofer: Barefield, Green, Doby
Pasini: Doby, Green, Barefield
Conn: Doby, Green, no points for 3rd choice
Bedford: Barefield, no points for 2nd or 3rd choice
TOP 3: Green (14 points); Doby (14 points); Barefield (12 points)
Round 3
Marhofer: Green, no points for 2nd choice
Pasini: Doby, Green
Conn: Doby, Green
Bedford: Green, Doby
Zurek: Green, Doby
TOTAL: Green (21 points); Doby (16 points)
Since Drick is making Pasini’s vote for Green the litmus test of official LCRP support at re-election time, I might be worried if I were Bedford and Marhofer; they both ranked Green their No. 1 pick in the final vote, while Pasini ranked her No. 2. Just think: had Marhofer voted differently, say if she ranked Barefield in first place in the first round, and if she did what Bedford did and not award any second- or third-place points in the second round, Barefield could be sitting on the school board instead of Green.
But instead of taking Marhofer to the woodshed for Barefield’s loss, Drick blames Pasini for what she views as this newly minted, “liberal” board.
Now, Drick will never, ever turn against Bedford or Marhofer. (“We know they’re conservative,” she said.) And while holding what she assumes without evidence to be Pasini’s wickedly liberal feet to the conservative fire, Drick would likely say something like “well, they had to vote for someone after that first pass.”
But the truth remains that her two dyed-in-the-wool, confirmed conservatives both placed at the top of their final votes the candidate Drick believes without any evidence whatsoever is a liberal/Democrat.
This is what makes the heat of Drick’s reasoning about Pasini’s vote and Green’s appointment difficult to take seriously. But make no mistake: Drick is on a mission to rid local boards of Democrats.
You can watch the podcast below. The part of the episode in which Drick takes after Pasini starts at the 1:19 mark.
The GOP is just mimicking their dear leader and bullying whoever disagrees with the. Not surprised anymore.