Whenever I’ve had the opportunity to talk with people about recalling Mott Community College Trustees Janet Couch, John Daly, and Wendy Wolcott, I’ve been up front about the challenge: 43,800 valid signatures for each trustee feels like an overwhelming number to collect, even for a board that has proven to be wildly unpopular with students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community.

It is easy fixate on that number, get overwhelmed, and feel like the task at hand is impossible. But I work really hard to reject that mindset, because it’s the exact mindset that has allowed this board majority (Couch, Daly, Wolcott, Jeffrey Swanson, and Andy Everman) to operate as if they are not accountable to any constituents, especially people at the college who are most impacted by their reckless decisions and the ugly, bleak vision for Mott’s future they are collectively trying to implement.

Instead, here are two other hopeful numbers that I focus my mindset on: 200 and 250. If 200 of us collect 250 signatures each, we will have 50,000 signatures. Those are achievable numbers. It starts with volunteers who are willing to collect signatures. We already have some who have started, and I am grateful to them. We need more, though, and the more we have, the less daunting the task becomes for each of us. If you are willing to volunteer, please email mottccrecall@gmail.com.

As far as what 250 signatures looks like? Here’s what it felt like for me individually. It took me about 12 hours worth of being out and about to get there, plus another two hours or so of prep work (making copies, grabbing pens and other supplies, etc.). It took me spending some time talking friends and family in my personal network who may not be familiar with Mott and its inner-workings, but they do understand what toxic leadership does to an organization. They do understand the harm that “chaos candidates” like the five-person board majority on the Mott board can inflict. They do understand that, as a community resource, educator, and employer, few institutions are as important to Genesee County and its future as Mott Community College.

A combination of mobilizing my personal support system and peoples, attending a couple of events where I knew people interested in signing would be hanging out, and creating a space in my front yard near Mott for my neighbors and people at the college to come over and sign got me to approximately 250, in almost no time at all. And I have to be honest about myself here: I’m a socially awkward introvert. There are people who are much, much more comfortable talking in front of groups or in large public gatherings than I am. So my 16ish hours of work to get to 250 could easily be halved by people who are more naturally extroverted, or have more than like nine friends or whatever.

The point is, this work is important, and it is also achievable. A longtime community activist who I respect made the observation that successful recalls almost always are well-funded and have the ability to bring on board paid signature gatherers. This … is not those things at this point. I don’t know how any of that works. And while I am certainly open to the perspective of more experienced people in local politics offering strategy tips, I also sort of love the message-sending potential of a bunch of everyday people who have simply had enough of the disrespect, chaos, and shady behavior of this board majority banding together in the most truly grassroots way imaginable and succeeding in this recall. I believe we can do that. The first focus is 200. If you believe in this, have any bandwidth, and are willing to try, please email me (mottccrecall@gmail.com) and you can join the others in our group of volunteers who have already got started.