Vince Chowdhury, who pleaded guilty to slapping his teenage daughter, has not decided his status on the Jefferson County School Board but said Friday he is not actively campaigning for the Democratic nomination in House District 22.
“My first priority is my family, and that is what I’m focusing on,” Chowdhury said. “Everything else is secondary.”
On July 9, Chowdhury pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. He received a one-year suspended sentence for the June 17 incident in which he slapped his 16-year-old daughter for behaving in a way he thought was disrespectful.
“I made a large mistake, and I have apologized for that,” Chowdhury said.
He noted that for 21 years he has been “a loving and caring father and husband,” and has served the community for 15 years on the school board and with other groups.
Chowdhury said he was not aware of an effort to recall him from the school board.
On Friday, three Jeffco women launched a website, , filed an issues committee campaign report with the Colorado secretary of state and formed a recall committee.
“The district has done what it can do to get him off the board,” said Deb Dempsey, one of the recall organizers. “We hope once he sees how serious we are, that he will step down.”
The school board sent Chowdhury, whose term expires in November 2009, a letter asking him to resign.
A July 25 deadline for a response passed without word from Chowdhury. The board cannot force him to resign because he is an independently elected official.
Chowdhury said the situation is difficult and feels that one mistake has led to “where you want to crawl under a rock and never come out.”
If a recall effort goes forward, organizers must gather 42,752 valid signatures within 60 days.
It would be too late to get on the November ballot, so a special election — costing up to $300,000 — would be held, Dempsey said. The district would have to foot the bill.
The situation comes at a sensitive time, with the district about to place mill levy and bond-issue questions on the November ballot.
Chowdhury said he didn’t feel that “one board member has any impact” on public opinion about the mill levy and bond-issue election.
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
