Build A Better Board of Ed for Alpena Public Schools

We are going to preface this by stating that we don’t believe it’s in the best interests of our County Administrator to be weighing in, and finger pointing, in such a public manner. He works for everyone.
Imagine if our Mayor did!

1. Reminder: We had to block Congressman Jack Bergman’s staffer, (James Hogge) two weeks ago for childishly laughing at 20 of our most recent posts and supporters.
2. Heads up: This picture was taken at the end of June/beginning of July, right around the time we turned in all petitions. It was in celebration of the Alpena Co Republican Party’s Grand Opening of their new headquarters.
3. Reminder: A-lot of political people now have your signature, name and address.
4. Heads up: Who is peeking out behind Jack Bergman? Zoom in. Sure looks like our County Clerk. And Jesse himself is right up front.
5. Reminder: Accountability is supposed to apply to the Recall team but not to our Clerks? The very people paid by our tax dollars and expected to know the protocol of how to fill out a petition sheet?
They had NO clue about this supposed statute that several attorneys felt was worthy of challenging.
5. YES, we are suspicious about all of it.

When accountability becomes someone else's fault https://mynewsonthego.com/alpena/Reader/Story.aspx?id=f49754bf-7cfc-4620-85ee-4d62174a1a18

APS Board Meeting August 24th 2026 5:30 PM Monday 8/​2​4/26 5:30 PM All meetings stream on YouTube@alpenapublicschoolsmichigan Link to the...

The day after we made this post, we woke to the laughing emoji on this post and towards many of our supporters comments. Also, on prior posts. Our feed was full of the laughing emoji and it peaked our curiosity.
The person who hit that laughing emoji was a (James Hogge).
We’ve not heard that name before and discovered that James Hogge is none other than Congressman Jack Bergman’s main staffer.
We blocked him.
Why would Congressman Jack Bergman’s main staffer engage in that behavior?
Some of us have voted for Jack Bergman.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-hogge-45228a140?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios

Our recall of three APS Board of Education candidates was not certified, not because we didn't get enough signatures, not because we didn’t have the support of our community, not because the board members are innocent but because of a technicality that a prominent legal firm has found.
Board member Monica Dziesinski retained this Detroit firm, with Lawson and Costain as additional defendants.

Who would know that on a recall petition sheet, “residence" is different than "address."

See the screenshot below where every circulator must sign to certify that they themselves, obtained those signatures.
The heading says residence, but our circulators in the townships, all put their address as their residence.

This tencnicality states that the circulators within all townships should have put their township NAME, their state and the ZIP Code of their “address.”

One circulator in PI Township obtained a total of 271 signatures in Alpena and in PI Township. All were thrown out. He signed his USPS address as Presque Isle, MI 49777. Per Monica’s attorney, he should have signed it Presque Isle Township, MI. 49777.

This technicality is new to the courts, within the past 1 1/2 yrs. Our State Supreme Court has refused to hear arguments about it.
This technicality is not in the directions on the back of the recall sheets, nor is it in the 2026 Recall Direction Manual for our city or township clerks. All of our Township Clerks including our City and County Clerk, were unaware of this technicality. We’ve reached out to some of the best legal minds across our state.
They were unaware.

We did our due diligence prior to this recall by seeking our own legal advice, and by putting in hours and hours of research. The only other avenue we could have taken was to hire an election expert.
But, we are grassroots without big funders.

Over 4,300 voters are now disenfranchised by Dziesinski, Lawson and Costain.
Look what money and power does.
It removes the will of the people. We see this everywhere.
We must remember this moving forward.

We will be supporting better candidates to fill our 4 open seats in November.
We suggest that all 4,300 + signers of these petitions-do the same.
We also suggest that you continue to watch this board of education.

A technicality overrides the will of 4,300 voters

A technicality overrides the will of 4,300 voters I just read "A technicality overrides the will of 4,300 voters" on MyNews.OnTheGo

There needs to be legislation preventing this.
Don’t you want to know who has your signature?
Thank you Cathy.

Who has my signature?

Who has my signature? I just read "Who has my signature?" on MyNews.OnTheGo

Perhaps the title should have been, “The Board Member Who Lies and Gloats.”
Nice job Vicky.

It's time to set the record straight

It's time to set the record straight I just read "It's time to set the record straight" on MyNews.OnTheGo

People are speaking out about the recall effort.
Dan is spot on.

Critical points missed in Alpena News story

Critical points missed in Alpena News story I just read "Critical points missed in Alpena News story" on MyNews.OnTheGo

We’d like to take a moment to thank our amazing Petitioner Yvonne for putting herself out there for the betterment of our community.
Yvonne took a lot of heat and ridicule and yet she held her head high and taught us all good lessons along the way.
Our community is better because of her.
If you see Yvonne in the public, give her a high ten and a smile.
She’ll know what you’re all about.
And thank you to our scores of volunteers who pounded the pavement unafraid to talk to strangers about the need for attention toward our board of education. We are forever indebted.

We are taking a little rest, and then-we’ll be back to lay out our plans moving forward.
Enjoy the last vestiges of your August and stay-cool!

Our recall of three APS Board of Education candidates was not certified, not because we didn't get enough signatures, not because we didn’t have the support of our community, not because the board members are innocent but because of a technicality that a prominent legal firm has found.
Board member Monica Dziesinski retained this Detroit firm, with Lawson and Costain as additional defendants.

Who would know that on a recall petition sheet, “residence" is different than "address."

See the screenshot below where every circulator must sign to certify that they themselves, obtained those signatures.
The heading says residence, but our circulators in the townships, all put their address as their residence.

This tencnicality states that the circulators within all townships should have put their township NAME, their state and the ZIP Code of their “address.”

One circulator in PI Township obtained a total of 271 signatures in Alpena and in PI Township. All were thrown out. He signed his USPS address as Presque Isle, MI 49777. Per Monica’s attorney, he should have signed it Presque Isle Township, MI. 49777.

This technicality is new to the courts, within the past 1 1/2 yrs. Our State Supreme Court has refused to hear arguments about it.
This technicality is not in the directions on the back of the recall sheets, nor is it in the 2026 Recall Direction Manual for our city or township clerks. All of our Township Clerks including our City and County Clerk, were unaware of this technicality. We’ve reached out to some of the best legal minds across our state.
They were unaware.

We did our due diligence prior to this recall by seeking our own legal advice, and by putting in hours and hours of research. The only other avenue we could have taken was to hire an election expert.
But, we are grassroots without big funders.

Over 4,300 voters are now disenfranchised by Dziesinski, Lawson and Costain.
Look what money and power does.
It removes the will of the people. We see this everywhere.
We must remember this moving forward.

We will be supporting better candidates to fill our 4 open seats in November.
We suggest that all 4,300 + signers of these petitions-do the same.
We also suggest that you continue to watch this board of education.

❗️We have had an important development that has prompted us to come back onto this page. ALREADY!!

Three of our volunteers spent the entire weekend reviewing the petitions that were initially reviewed and validated by all District Clerks prior to 7/21/26.
While reviewing the petition sheets this weekend, it has become disgustingly and brazenly clear that board of education members Dzieniski, Lawson and Costain have challenged EVERY single signature out of Presque Isle Township.
Another factoid!
They also challenged petitioner Yvonne Johnson’s husband’s signature.
That does not mean all signatures were thrown out however.
But what it does mean, is that they tried.
Now you tell us what you think about that!
And tell us why you think they worked over Pi Township so hard?
And why they would single out the petitioner’s husband?
And that’s just the beginning.