Shoddy attendance slows second round of ASG elections

Although poor attendance slowed down proceedings, Associated Student Government (ASG) elected next year's senate leadership and finished executive cabinet elections at their six-hour-long meeting on Tuesday, April 23.

The remaining six executive cabinet elections were held, as were the elections for Speaker of Senate and Parliamentarian. The election for Speaker Pro Tempore was postponed though three candidates ran, because senate voted no confidence, meaning they did not have confidence in the candidates' ability to handle the position.

Senate held one official quorum check, a count of how many senators are present, but quorum was unofficially questioned numerous times during the meeting. Without at least half of the senators present during senate session, ASG is not allowed to conduct business, such as holding elections or passing legislation.

Academic senators Chloe Sassan and Omar Elghazawi and off-campus senator Jennifer Brown all ran to be Secretary of Communications and Media Relations. Sassan was elected after she proposed sending a bi-weekly electronic newsletter about ASG accomplishments to the student body and bringing back a "senator of the month" project on ASG's social media accounts.

Junior Sarah Siegel video-called in to the senate chamber to run for Speaker of Senate, as she is currently studying abroad in Senegal. Off-campus senator Adrian Radilla ran against her. Siegel said she had a vision for senate to "focus on positive change" and suggested more training guides for new senators and at-large positions for students passionate about joining ASG. Siegel was elected to the position.

The race for Secretary of Diversity and Inclusion included three candidates of color: on-campus senator Brandon Small, first-year Sydnie Singleton and junior Dion Mensah. Small was elected and hopes to continue current Secretary Rose's work on bill collaborations like Rose's with Hillel.

Speaker Pro Tempore Benjamin Mitsch ran against academic senator and current chair of the Safety Committee Julia Koenig to be the first Secretary for Safety, a position created this semester. Mitsch discussed his desire to see more attention paid to campus security, and senate elected him to the position.

Cecilia Comerford ran unopposed and was elected as Secretary for Governmental Relations. Comerford plans to continue her work with alcohol safety -- passing out water at the Phi Delta gates on weekend nights and celebrating the centennial of women's right to vote with events next year.

Senate approved the appointment of Annika Fowler as Chief of Staff. Fowler said she sees her role as an advisor and sounding board as Student Body President Jaylen Perkins and Vice President Dante Rossi grow accustomed to the internal communications of student government.

Though three on-campus senators -- Victoria Villanueva, Kyle Kufrin and Halle Sarkisian -- ran to be Speaker Pro Tempore, senate voted no confidence for all three of the candidates. Speaker Cole Hankins said another election will be held at a later date.

Radilla and Villanueva then ran for Parliamentarian. Radilla cited his experience with the ASG bylaws, parliamentary procedure and the more obscure Robert's Rules of Order system for running meetings, and was elected.

glynnee@miamioh.edu