A key budget adviser for the undergraduate student government
will officially resign from her position Sept. 7, marking the
second time an official with that title left the position since the
council began their term last spring.
Lili Harbottle, the finance committee chairwoman for the
Undergraduate Students Association Council, decided to resign from
her position due to personal reasons, she said in an e-mail to the
Daily Bruin, and plans to make her resignation official at the
council’s next meeting.
“I have made this very, very tough decision for reasons
not due to anything, anybody or any place even closely related to
my office or to USAC or even to UCLA,” Harbottle wrote,
adding that it is difficult for her to leave a job she cares
about.
The USAC president will appoint Harbottle’s replacement in
the upcoming weeks.
Harbottle is not the only one who can soon be called the former
2004-2005 finance committee chair. In June ““ a month after
the new council had taken office ““ Pedro Gomez also left the
position. Gomez said he wanted to pursue a teaching opportunity in
France.
USAC members maintain that the two incidents are independent of
each other and that the same official resigned twice happens to be
a mere coincidence.
Nevertheless, Harbottle resigns at a crucial time for the
council’s budget advisers, immediately after base budget
allocations were made. The allocations were made during the
council’s Aug. 24 meeting, and some councilmembers expect
dissatisfied student groups to appeal to the council.
Harbottle has said she will be involved with the potential
appeals process and will help her replacement transition, said
Tracy Ohara, the budget review director. The budget review director
and the finance committee chair often work hand-in-hand when making
recommendations to council.
Internal Vice President Darren Chan said he believes the council
is resilient and will be able to bounce back from the setback.