The Abridged version:
- The teachers union in Twin Rivers Unified is trying for a third time to oust district Trustee Sascha Vogt.
- Union leaders are targeting Vogt because they say she was the most disengaged board member leading up to and during a strike in the spring. Vogt denied those claims, saying she regularly communicated with educators and community members.
- The last two recall attempts, both filed in August, failed after missing specific bureaucratic requirements.
For the third time in two months, a group of educators in North Sacramento moved to recall Twin Rivers Unified School District board member Sascha Vogt.
Their last two attempts fell short of specific procedural requirements.
The district teachers union, Twin Rivers United Educators, is intent on ousting Vogt specifically. Union leaders say that is because of what they call an egregious lack of communication that helped fuel a record-long 12-day strike in the spring.
“Despite being elected on a platform of transparency, collaboration, and investing in classrooms, she was unwilling to engage with educators and the community,” the group stated in their filing with the Sacramento County elections department.
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Proponents used the same language when they filed the previous notices of intention to recall Vogt.
Vogt said she will soon submit her official response to the latest effort. In her previous answer, Vogt, who has been on the board since 2024, said she has been fully accessible throughout her time in office.
“My work has centered on collaboration because strong schools require us working together,” Vogt wrote in an Aug. 21 letter.
There are still several steps between now and a potential recall vote.
A third try
The first recall attempt in early August failed after county officials deemed more than half of the 30 signatures invalid.
Weeks later, a second effort progressed a bit further but again came up short.
Proponents published their legal notice in The Sacramento Bee but included only printed names and corresponding addresses. Local election code requires signatures listed as well.
Union officials said that requirement was not made clear to them. Rather than fight the second rejection, they said it was easier to begin again with a third try.
“Right now, we are fighting through a bureaucracy that seems more interested in the process than in people,” Brittoni Ward, union president, said at the time.
Communication claims
Ward has said that of all board members, Vogt was the “most disengaged” during months of bargaining and almost two weeks of striking.
Where other trustees took phone calls or sat for one-on-one meetings, Vogt rarely responded, union members said. The salt in the wound, Ward said, was that educators gave Vogt their endorsement and campaigned for her two years ago.
Vogt rejected these claims, saying she communicated regularly with union members, educators and community members.
“The boundary I maintained was about protecting the integrity and transparency of the bargaining and governance process,” Vogt wrote in an email to Abridged by PBS KVIE.
“I wanted communications to occur in a way that was fair, appropriately documented, and accessible to all stakeholders, including the TRUE membership at large, while avoiding private conversations with parties directly at the bargaining table that could blur the line into back door bargaining or create confusion about what was actually being negotiated or decided,” she added.
What happens next?
Community members spoke out online in support of Vogt during the previous recall effort.
“From Del Paso Heights to Woodlake to Swanson Estates, no one has fought harder for what’s best for the children and families of District 2,” read a digital flyer titled “Neighbors for Sascha.”
The image was shared by board president Christine Jefferson, who said she stands with Vogt. Jefferson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The latest legal notice ran in the Daily Recorder Tuesday. As long as proponents steer clear of any other bureaucratic snags, their next step is creating and circulating a formal petition.
Recall effort leaders would have 120 days to collect 2,518 signatures from registered voters in Vogt’s district. County officials will need to review and certify the signed petition. A special recall election would occur at least three months from then.
