Council vacancies to be filled by presidential appointment

Two positions for the undergraduate student government have
recently opened up to the entire student body.

With the resignation last week of Nelson Saldaña as a the
general representatives for the Undergraduate Students Association
Council, the position is now up for grabs for qualified
students.

Saldaña resigned from his post on Jan. 28 due to personal
reasons, leaving a vacancy in council for the fourth time in four
consecutive years.

Because the resignation took place after council’s midterm
mark in early December, no special election will be held. Instead,
a presidential appointment will be made. Students who meet
eligibility requirements can submit an application to the
president’s office, due Feb. 12.

After the application process closes, interviews will be
conducted by the Appointments Review Committee, who will then send
their recommendation to council to approve. A decision is expected
to be made at the Feb. 17 general meeting.

An overdue appointment for the election board chair was
postponed at Tuesday night’s meeting, posing a problem for a
potential special election later this quarter.

The appointment was delayed because of a lack of qualified
candidates, said President Anica McKesey.

The E-board chair oversees the entire election process,
including financing special elections.

If the Voting Rights Student Initiative ““ which proposes
adding a nondiscrimination clause to the USAC constitution and the
implementation of permanent online elections ““ qualifies for
a special election, an E-board chair would be needed to organize
it.

General Representative Josh Lawson said if he gathers enough
student signatures for the initiative, he will make his
presentation to council regardless of whether an E-board chair is
appointed. A special election would take place 15 days after the
presentation.

The search for an E-board chair was originally restricted to a
pool of students who had applied for the position last spring
because McKesey believed it contained a good number of qualified
candidates. Any qualified student can now apply for the
position.

“We felt that in looking for the best application, we
needed to open up the process,” said Internal Vice President
and ARC chairman Allende Palma/Saracho.

According to USAC bylaws, the appointment of an election board
chair is to be made by the first week of the fall quarter.

McKesey said the appointment was not prioritized because a
number of other USAC appointments had to be made first.