Associated Students (A.S.) Senate discussed the resignations and appointments of four members at Wednesday’s meeting and how the vacancies will call for the creation of a permanent system of reappointments.
Last year’s Senate experienced numerous vacancies, but still does not have a clear system devised to replace the senators’ positions. The past unorganized process resulted in conflict as the inconsistency prolonged the senator appointments. Bryan Velasquez’s resignation reminds the association of the importance of a clear procedure when appointing new senators.
Velasquez, a second-year music major, resigned from his position as an on-campus senator during the 10th week of Fall Quarter, and Senate now must fulfill the position. According to Velasquez, his resignation was prompted by “personal reasons,” and he enjoyed working with Senate.
“A lot of things happened towards the end of the quarter, and I thought it was best to take some time to figure things out,” Velasquez said.
He said he would consider running for Senate again in the future, but “[doesn’t] see that happening any time soon.”
“I would definitely be interested [in joining Senate again],” he said. “They’re all amazing people, and we all work really well together.”
Off-campus senator and third-year economics major Ashley Selki will organize an ad-hoc committee where current senators will create a process to appoint a new senator to fill Velasquez’s vacancy. The position will then be opened for students to run, and the Senate has five weeks to appoint a new senator.
EVPLA and fourth-year history of public policy major Ashcon Minoiefar encouraged the senators to take their time devising a permanent system as he recalled the vacancies the Senate experienced during his own term last year.
“I very much encourage you to take your time … make a system, make it good, make it work,” Minoiefar said. “It can affect the whole association.”
Minoiefar warned the Senate against arguing with each other and beginning the appointment process before a proper system is created. He said this would lead to more problems during this appointment and in future cases.
“Whether you think you’re right, you all need to talk about it in here,” he said. “If you’re not happy with the process before you start, it is going to get a lot worse.”
The Senate also opened the first meeting of the quarter with the swearing in of second-year political science and communication double major Izabella Kipnis as a new off-campus senator. Kipnis had previously worked with the Senate in the Honoraria Committee, a position that will now be filled by third-year political science major Jordan Goulet.
Kipnis is currently working on transitioning into the Senate and is beginning to focus on working with I.V. Tenants Union in regards to the rising amount of evictions in Isla Vista.
Letters and Science Senator Jasmine Sandhu, third-year biopsychology and sociology double major, was also appointed as the new vice chair of the Finance and Business Committee.
A version of this story appeared on p. 4 of the Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017 edition of the Daily Nexus.