Conservative school board members recalled in Oregon for vote to lift COVID-19 mask requirements

Voters in an Oregon school district voted to recall three conservative board members who voted to lift the COVID-19 mask mandate last year.

Each of the members were recalled by around 53% of the Aug. 1 vote, said the Tri-City Herald, which Monday reported a small number of ballots still needed to be counted.

One of the recalled members, Semi Bird, said that progressives who worked for the recall openly admitted that it was just an attempt to fix the results of the original election, calling that election a “mistake,” according to Fox News.

Bird said that progressive organizations, including teachers’ unions, poured money into the recall effort in order to remake the board.

“This was never about just a mask mandate,” Bird told Fox News. “It was a combination of change and accountability that we brought forward that the progressives within our district did not like. With the support of the teachers’ union and other progressive advocacy groups, they brought tens of thousands of dollars to a school board recall during an off-year primary where we had our supporters come out in numbers and support us, but the masses of conservatives who are our voter base did not turn out.” 

Bird also blamed inaction by the state GOP for the defeat.  

Republican parties are often reluctant to get involved in school board races after liberals have successfully rebranded them as “non-partisan races,” which critics say really means “non-conservative.” 

“You would think this Washington state Republican Party would have said something or done something but no, they stayed silent,” he said.  

Bird is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret, who is running for governor of Oregon in 2024, said the Herald.  

The other two recalled board members are Audra Byrd and Kari Williams. 

Supporters of the recall effort said that the members violated state law by trying to lift the mask mandate, reported Oregon Public Broadcasting.  

But Bird told Fox News that the mask mandate was simply an edict from the state’s governor, not a law.  

“It’s important for people to understand that the Washington State mask mandate was not a law, so a law was never passed to enforce this. It was a mandate that they were using emergency powers that the governor obtained by the Legislature to influence schools not to do what we did,” he said.  

The recalled board members say they lifted the masking mandate following guidance by county health officials and for the mental health and well-being of the students.