UCLA student government representatives have continually stated their dedication to transparency in the student population, but unclear conflict-of-interest policies may have put the council’s goals in jeopardy.
Last month, Undergraduate Students Association Council Financial Supports Commissioner Rustom Z. Birdie was called into question for violating USAC conflict-of-interest policies.
The USAC bylaws do not have specific conflict-of-interest rules, although USAC President Jasmine Hill is currently working with council advisers to change this. She hopes that after the bylaws are amended, “the excuse of “˜I didn’t know’ will no longer be there.”
Birdie e-mailed the Daily Bruin last month to promote a new service by his office: the job-listing site Jobbook.com. Birdie said in an interview that he signed a contract that may have promised him 1,000 shares in exchange for advertising to students.
When asked about the legality of Birdie’s actions, USAC administrative representative Berky Nelson said he was unaware of the situation.
Hill also said she was unaware of the contract when she was contacted for comment. Hill said she understood that an ethical concern was at stake and that if Jobbook had been on Birdie’s list of initiatives at the start of the year, she would have advised against it.
In a statement to the Daily Bruin, Birdie apologized and said he cut off all ties with Jobbook.
Birdie did not report his relationship with the company to USAC, and told The Bruin he believed it was a personal side project that had nothing to do with his job.
Hill said she does not believe the Jobbook incident indicates greater problems of council unity.
USAC External Vice President Cristopher Santos agreed that council unity has strengthened this year, but said he feels there is still room for improvement.
In an interview last month, Hill said members know of one another’s projects. Yet there are still instances where officers are unaware of one another’s actions.
For example, Santos said both his office and the Facilities Commission independently began working to promote gender-neutral facilities earlier this quarter.
However, he said he believes it is a testament to USAC’s growth that the discrepancy was detected “within the week,” and the two offices began to work on the project together. Facilities Commissioner JC De Vera said he believed the interoffice collaboration was one of many instances of USAC unity.
Santos said he felt comfortable asking other officers about their current projects. However, slate politics play a role during council meetings, he said. Slates are groups of candidates who run on similar platforms, like political parties.
“Sometimes when it’s an issue where both (slates) feel very strongly, the conversation might get more intense than usual,” Santos said. However, he said members remain respectful despite differences in opinion.
Student Welfare Commissioner Linda Phi said that though she heard there was a lot of tension between slates in previous years, current officers do a good job identifying themselves as representatives of the student body rather than slate members.
“We may have different opinions, but in the end we vote in the best interest of the students,” said Phi, an independent officer.
In previous years, slate-driven politics sometimes affected council communications. Former USAC general representative Thach “Tak” Nguyen said partisan politics was one of the main pitfalls of student government last year. USAC is generally dominated by two slates: Students First! and Bruins United. In the past, partisanship has generated controversy, such as last year’s elections when slate signs were torn down in the middle of the night.
Nguyen, a fifth-year cognitive science student and Bruins United member, said the council table could often be a volatile place, where members of one slate would refuse to support initiatives simply because they were announced by the opposing party. Natalie Gonzalez, a general representative during the 2008-2009 school year, said she felt she often didn’t get her voice across because she was one of two Bruins United members in a Students First!-dominated council.
Like Santos, Nguyen also said that two officers would sometimes work on the same project independently of one another. Last year’s USAC president, Cinthia Flores, said she could not recall specific instances in which two members began work on the same project separately.
Flores said she believes last year’s council presented a relatively united front. However, she said the reason interoffice communication may have suffered is that there was no way to streamline the process, besides officer reports at weekly meetings.
Santos and Nguyen both said communication and unity are dependent upon each individual member’s actions. The entire council only meets together once a week ““ aside from that, they are free to fulfill the obligations of their positions as they see fit.
Councilmembers have said that they think clearer guidelines would help improve officer communication. As members work toward greater unity, the Judicial Board investigates Birdie’s relationship with Jobbook. The first public hearing will take place Tuesday morning.