As an undergraduate representative, I am writing this regarding USAC’s decision to appoint the new Elections Board chair.
As stipulated in the Undergraduate Student Association Council by-laws, the appointment should have been decided by fall quarter. The appointment was forwarded to 10th week of winter quarter, at the brink of spring elections season. A clear lack of effort and responsibility from our president and the rest of the council resulted in this rushed decision to appoint a chair. An effective process would have prevented this hasty appointment and allowed the council to uphold increased involvement and visibility beyond the “USAC community.”
Kyle Kleckner’s position as the current Bruin Democrats president places the necessary nonpartisanship of the chair in a quandary; he also has invested three years as a member of the Student Judicial Board ““ another conflict of interest. Nevertheless, the council did not have a large pool of qualified, unbiased, nonpartisan candidates to choose from.
In fact, Kleckner was the only applicant for this position. Moreover, the council almost disregarded our constitutional by-laws for this appointment, which stipulate that the Appointments Review Committee must first conduct an interview because this is a student-funded, stipend position.
It is true that we are uncertain how unbiased and nonpartisan Kleckner’s tenure will be. But it is likely this year, as is the case almost every year, that a Student Judicial Board case will arise with regards to Election Code during this campaign season. What I am certain of is that my constituency will question the legitimacy of these decisions because of the perception of Kleckner’s three-year involvement with the Student Judicial Board. Despite these considerations, most of my fellow councilmembers accepted this conclusion and still supported appointing Kleckner as chair.
It is somewhat refreshing to see Kleckner’s willingness to show support by chairing our elections this upcoming season, but the students at UCLA should have never been put in this precarious situation to begin with. My fellow councilmembers should have shown more objection to the notion that they would have to explain the perception of this rushed appointment to their constituency, the student body. I urge councilmembers to reevaluate their responsibility as representatives of the students at UCLA, and I urge the students at UCLA to hold their councilmembers more accountable for these presidential appointments.
Shaw is the Cultural Affairs commissioner for USAC. She is a third-year student.