The Associated Students Inc. Senate approved one candidate for government elections officer, an associate justice and three commissioners at Wednesday’s meeting.
After the Senate finished interviewing Panhellenic Council member Alicia Erby and former Sen. William Sanchez for the position as ASI Government Elections Officer, Sen. Lucy Montano of the College of Education said she felt pressured to make an appointment during the meeting. Sen. Justin Todoroff of the College of Health and Human Services agreed with Montano, saying he did not feel the board had enough time to make an informed decision. He then motioned to extend the application period for the position to Nov.1.
Sen. James Davis of the College of Engineering disagreed with Todoroff’s motion.
“I’m pretty confident that we won’t get anybody more qualified than [Sanchez] that’s more knowledgable about elections than him,” Davis said. “I would like this motion to fail. I believe that we should make this decision today.”
The Senate decided against Todoroff’s motion with a 8-9 vote and proceeded to debate over the candidates.
“I sat on the senate with Will last year, and I hate saying it, he’s soft,” Todoroff said. “He’s a soft candidate.”
Senators-at-large George Del Hierro Jr. and Guido D’Onofrio said Sanchez would do well in the position.
“He takes care of business and he gets the job done. And I think that’s the kind of person we need as far as the government elections commissioner,” Del Hierro said.
“Will has dedication and he has experience, but most of all, he has character,” D’Onofrio said. “He’s a fair-minded person, and he’s going to look at both sides of the issue and then he’s going to make his decision. And that’s the kind of person we need.”
After debating, the Senate confirmed Sanchez with 10 votes in favor, six votes opposed, and one abstention. The motion to confirm Erby failed with one vote in favor, 15 votes opposed, and one abstention.
The Senate approved junior fashion merchandising and design major Amanda Meyer, and senior political science major Jasmine Winfield as sports and spirits co-commissioners after a debate over whether permitting two co-commisioners was acceptable. Sen. Todoroff raised an objection to appointing co-commisioners because ASI bylaws allow only one sports and spirits commissioner to serve.
“There’s one person that’s supposed to take charge of it,” he said. “Who are we going to point the finger to when something doesn’t go right? We can’t point it at one and back to the other and then point it back to the president. There needs to be one line of accountability and here there’s two.”
Sen. Shelena Mclinton of the College of Liberal Arts disagreed with Todoroff, mentioning she had previously held a position as a co-commissioner.
The Senate unanimously approved political science and black studies major Megan King as an associate justice for ASI Judiciary and senior Loren Edwards as the government recruitment and training officer.