The drama and frustration of slate politics have already taken
hold of undergraduate student government, impeding progress after
only its first meeting of the academic year.
Councilmembers who campaigned with the Bruins United slate
blocked presidential appointments using a loophole in the
Undergraduate Students Association constitution at the meeting last
week.
General representative Brian Neesby, a member of BU, walked out
in the middle of the meeting Tuesday in protest of President Jenny
Wood’s appointments to the Student Fee Advisory Committee
““ which his slate could not prevent ““ causing council
to lose quorum and halt their meeting. To allow the meeting to
continue, voting was postponed.
Slates, or coalitions of councilmembers with similar viewpoints,
are not recognized in the USA constitution, but function like
political parties in debate over contested issues.
This year is the first in over a decade when the Student Power!
slate and its predecessors have not held a majority, and the
divided council has clashed on many issues since taking office in
May.
Wood, a member of SP!, called Neesby’s actions
disrespectful, manipulative and a “disservice to the student
body.”
BU councilmembers have criticized Wood for her appointments,
saying her choices are unrepresentative of the student body and
disproportionately involved in cultural groups such as Samahang
Pilipino and MEChA, which are historically aligned with SP!
Members of the BU slate hold majority on the council, but only
had three members present.
Wood said she did not feel the candidates suggested by BU were
qualified, as appointees to the committee are the only student
input in allocations of student fee revenues.
At the meeting last week, BU made a concerted effort to prevent
appointments they disagreed with for political reasons.
At the start of the meeting, Neesby made a motion that the
appointments for the USA Judicial Board and the Student Fee
Advisory Committee be tabled until the next council meeting, under
the claim that council did not have sufficient time to
negotiate.
According to a press release from Facilities Commissioner Joe
Vardner, who is a member of BU, the majority of the Student Fee
Advisory Committee candidates “have extensive SP!
backgrounds,” are closely affiliated with SP! councilmembers,
and do not represent most UCLA students.
“If you look at the viewpoints and the group memberships,
and things like that, you see the same groups being
represented,” Vardner said.
In the appointment process, the president selects candidates
from the applicant pool to be sent to a three-member review
committee, which this year consists of one member from each slate
on council and an independent.
If a majority of the committee determines the candidate is
qualified for the position, according to set criteria, the
president may forward that application to council for majority
vote.
Jeannie Biniek, the external vice president, said three weeks
was plenty of time for discussion on the SFAC appointments. USAC
voted to table only the Judicial Board appointments.
Wood said slate politics were the sole reason the appointments
were postponed.
“Call it slate politics all you want, but that’s
just a short way to say that this is a huge campus, and there are
certain groups who feel they aren’t represented,”
Vardner said.
Neesby said he had no choice but to walk out due to Wood’s
refusal to negotiate.
He had previously met with Wood, along with Vardner and
Financial Supports Commisioner Ryan Smeets, and warned that their
slate would be forced to stage a walk-out unless they could
compromise.
During a recess after Neesby’s walk out, some
councilmembers agreed to support a vote to table the appointments
and allow the meeting to continue, as there were other important
items on the agenda.
Both sides are quick to fault their political opponents, and in
his eagerness to justify Neesby’s actions, Vardner sent out a
press release regarding the incident from his seat at the council
table while the meeting was still going on.
Neesby’s actions drew verbal attacks from
councilmembers.
“It is a very irresponsible and childish act to leave
council simply so we will no longer have quorum and no longer be
able to vote,” Wood said.
During the rest of the meeting, appointments were made to the
Community Service Mini-Fund, Financial Aid Policy Committee, the
boards of governors for the Wooden Center and Student Activities
Center, and advisory boards for transportation services, student
health and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource
Center.