ASEWU Special Session Minutes – October 11, 2013

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ASEWU Special Sessionminutes

Wednesday, October 11, 2013

PUB 307, 4:00 p.m.

  1. Executive Vice President calls meeting to orderat 4:03pm
  2. Chair explains to the Council members that this Special Session is toDiscuss the issue regarding the budget request from Sigma Phi Epsilon
  1. Roll Call

D.J. Jigre, President

Frank Navarro, Executive Vice President

Samson Hatton, Finance Vice President

Cassie Bratton, Council Representative, Academic Affairs

Kyle Dodson, Council Representative, Academic Affairs

Mariana Garcia, Council Representative, Diversity Outreach

Samantha Frank, Council Representative, Graduate Affairs

Kelsy Kelley, Council Representative, Legislative Affairs

Kendal Davis, Council Representative, Student Activities

Brendan Hargrave, Council Representative, Student Health & Safety Services

Ryan McCulloch, Council Representative, Student Services

James Reisenauer, Council Representative, Technology Advancement

Absent:

  • Cassie Bratton
  • Samantha Frank
  • Kendal Davis
  • James Reisenauer

Guest Present

  • Nick Fell, ASEWU Superior Court
  • Nerissa Huff, ASEWU Superior Court
  • Kaylee Stiles, ASEWU Superior Court
  • Lizbeth Ramirez, ASEWU Superior Court
  • Markus Hammond, ASEWU Public Relations Specialist
  • Ethan Vodde, ASEWU Legislative Affairs
  • Alex Warrick, ASEWU Media and Graphic Designer
  • Samuel Adams, ASEWU Director of Elections
  • Conner Greg, Sigma Phi Epsilon
  • Jane Martin, The Easterner
  1. Approval of the Agenda:
  2. Kelsy Kelley states that the agenda is missing the item regarding the funding request from ACM, and asked if Council has to vote on it.
  3. Samson Hatton states that he will explain more about this in his report.
  1. Nick Fell states that the date on the agenda is wrong.
  2. Nick Fell entertains a motion to fix the date on the agenda to read Friday, October 11, 2013 instead of Wednesday, October 9, 2013. Ryan McCulloch moved to change the date stated on the agenda, Kyle Dodson seconded, and motion passes unanimously.
  1. Mr. Navarro states that the Council members will be limited to three turns of two minutes on each subject,with the exception of the first speaker on each subject, reports, and guest speakers, all of whom will be allowed five minutes to open. The Speaker reserves the right for further debate. If members of the Gallery have questions, comments or concerns, please speak up during “Gallery Participation”
  1. Approval of the Minutes:
  2. NONE
  1. Gallery Participation
  2. NONE

E.B. Vodde suggests that the Chair calls a recess in order to make sure there is a corium present in order to vote for items on the agenda.

Chair entertains motion to take a five minute recess, Mariana Garcia moved, Kelsy Kelley seconds.

The Chair resumes meeting at 4:10pm.

Nick Fell recites that bylaw102, section 4 states that “No official action shall be taken during any meeting of the ASEWU Council without the presence of a quorum. Quorum shall consist of a simple majority of the ASEWU Council, as per Article 2, Section 4 of the ASEWU Constitution.”

Chair explains that the majority of the Council members are present, therefore the meeting can move on.

  1. Guest Speakers
  2. NONE
  1. Reports
  2. Nick Fell, ASEWU Superior Court Chief Justice
  3. NONE
  1. Reports of the Officers
  2. Dahir “D.J.” Jigre, ASEWU President
  3. NONE
  1. Francisco “Frank” Navarro, ASEWU Executive Vice President
  2. NONE
  1. Samson Hatton, ASEWU Finance Vice President
  2. Samson Hatton gives a presentation the letter Superior Court sent the Council members. Samson states that in the funding request that the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon is not a supplemental budget because in order to request such a club or organization must summit a fiscal budget the year before and since the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon host closed events to the public they cannot request a fiscal budget. Samson stated that during the presentation given by the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon they stated that they were not eligible for other funding through ASEWU which is why they requested ASEWU to cosponsor the event. Samson also states that the motion that was passed by the Council members was to partner with the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon not to give them a supplemental budget therefore no bylaw was broken because it is not a supplemental budget, in which case does not requires a 6 week period prior to the event like stated in the bylaws.
  3. Samson also talked about the request for funding by ACM. Samson stated that the budget request was not submitted 6 weeks before the actual event and that at the moment of the request there was no finance committee established. Therefore this budget request could not be voted on during a council meeting.

Chair suggests skipping items 10-12 on the agenda

  1. Departmental and Representative Presentations
  2. NONE
  1. Committee Reports
  2. NONE

The chair reminds the council that this meeting is to finish the discussion that occurred during the last council meeting and to allow council members to speak about any concerns they may have. Lastly the chair also states that the letter that was brought up by Superior Court will also be addressed

  1. Unfinished Business
  2. Budget request for $3,000 for the purposes of hosting a haunted house in partnership with the gentleman of Sigma Phi Epsilon
  3. Nick Fell states that Superior court received a letter from an anonymous student. Nick also stated that when superior court receives a letter, their job is to interpret the bylaws and make an interpretation of such. Nick clarifies that he cannot say what was discussed in the meeting Superior Court held but he states that the decision was unanimous and is a final decision.
  4. D.J. states that bylaws 502, is for the purpose of the finance committee. He states that each year, each club or organization receives a fiscal budget and any other budget request must first go through the finance committee with a strict deadline of 6 weeks prior to the event for which the funding is needed.

Chair recognizes Samson Hatton

-Samson Hatton states that indeed the bylaw was broken because it wasn’t 6 weeks prior, however he clarifies that the request was not a supplemental budget.

  1. However when Superior Court interpreted the motion from the previous Council Meeting, the motion was found as a supplemental request.
  1. Samson Hatton also states that the request was not a supplemental or fiscal request, just a finance request. He also states that gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon were not asking for funds they were asking for ASEWU to sponsor their event

Chair reads motion that was voted on during the previous council meeting which reads: “The approval of the budget request for $3,000 for the purpose of hosting a haunted house in partnership with the gentlemen of sigma phi epsilon.”

  1. Nick Fell states that Superior Court does not pick sides on any issue; rather they look at the bylaws and the constitution and interpret them. He also reminds the council that the decision of Superior Court has been made and they don’t have to agree with the decision and can overturn it.
  2. D.J. Jigre states that he approved the event because everyone agrees but he does not agree with the protocol because it was not followed correctly. Jigre states that he believes it should have gone through the finance committee first. He also states that the neither the right process nor the right procedure was taken.
  3. Kelsy Kelley states that she appreciates the idea of working with the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon however she agrees that the decision was made too fast and that the council did not have time to think about the decision. She also states that she really enjoyed the presentation the gentlemen gave but had a problem with the process as well as the decision.
  4. Brendan Hargravestates that if a budget request has to go through the finance committee first, it is a much longer process for the request to be voted on by so many committees. Brendan also states that he feels that the process should be switched so that students requesting funding don’t have to go through such a long process.

-Nick Fell states that submit a request in writing to R & P for the change of the process.

  1. Samson Hatton states that he wants everything to be clear and understood by the Council members. He states that if the Council wishes to go through with something, it gets added to the agenda and then voted on at the Council meeting, by the Council members. Samson also states that the decision Superior Court made can be overturned but suggest that the members look at the information and then decide whether that decision is a good one or not, and he clarifies that the paperwork that was filled out was not a supplemental budget.
  2. Kyle Dodson asked Nick Fell what Superior Court’s interpretation was of the event after reviewing and interpreting the bylaws. Kyle stated that his interpretation of such was to fund the event. Therefore he asked if Superior Court took into consideration the bigger picture of to what this event was benefiting.

-Nick Fell states that Superior Court’s job was to interpret what was asked of them to do.

  1. Brendan Hargrave stated that the gentlemen presented and that ASEWU is supposed to take students ideas, he added that the presentation was formal and provided information to everyone. He also stated that he does not believe that they should be punished for the way that they went through with things.

-Nick Fell States that he does not disagree with Brendan, however he states that Sigma Phi Epsilon is considered an outside organization because it is not recognized by ASEWU.

  1. Mariana Garcia states that the Haunted House would be an ASEWU event, while Sigma Phi Epsilon would do all the background work. She asked if it would work out better if it was an ASEWU member who was in charge of the event and was just a partnership with the organization

-Nick Fell states that if it would have been an ASEWU member it would have been different, and he clarifies that the council’sdecision was not good or bad. But would have looked better for the general public.

  1. D.J. Jigre tells everyone to see this as a learning process, and for them to live with the consequences. He states that everyone likes the idea of the event but states thatthe council members did not take the time to think about it or for the right process. He also states that the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon need our help and ASEWU needs their help as well. He also states that in order for the right process to happen the finance committee needs to be established in which case the funding request would go to the committee, then to Samson Hatton, the Finance Vice President and then back to the Council members to vote on it, however this process was not followed.

-Samson Hatton states that the process that was followed was neither wrong nor right. He states that an outside organization does not have to go through the process because it was a partnership with ASEWU. He also stated that unless the bylaws are changed then it would become a funding request for ASEWU. Lastly he states that they are not requesting funds but instead a partnership with the ASEWU.

  1. Kelsy Kelley states that she really enjoyed the presentation the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon presented and she also agrees with Nick Fell on the decision the Court made. Kelsy suggests to the Council to take their personal feelings away from this issue, in order to make a decision instead of going back and forth about it. Lastly she states that this is a learning process for everyone and suggests focusing on the bigger picture.
  2. Ryan McCulloch agrees with Kelsy Kelleyand states that the funds that will be raised from the donations of EWU students will help them look better whether it is a big or a small amount of money, he also states that it looks good to administration and the Cheney Community.
  3. Brendan Hargrave asks the Council members to look at the bigger picture, he asked if residential life came to the Council and asked for the same partnership opportunity, would they too be rejected. He says rejecting the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon does not make sense and it makes ASEWY look biased because its Greek affiliated. He encourages the council to not look at this as ASEWU giving them the money for the event, instead he suggest that everyone look at it as ASEWU using their funding towards its own event with the exception of the fraternity providing everything needed.

-Nick Fell states that if ASEWU is funding an event that will be held at the Sigma Phi Epsilon house, those who attend will think that Sigma Phi Epsilon is hosting and funding it. Therefore he states that ASEWU will not be recognized for funding it.

  1. Brendan Hargrave states that the Council needs to make a decision on the issue whether it was six weeks in advance or not. He also asks the Council if the other funding request will also be denied since the correct process isn’t being followed.
  2. Ryan McCulloch asked the Council members if it would be better if ASEWU helped at the event.

Chair states that ASEWU cannot collect money from students, since it against ASEWU to do so. He also encourages the members to move onto possible solutions.

  1. D.J.Jigre states that he wants great success for students however he does not feel comfortable with the decision that was made and wants to follow the right process. D.J. also stated that he wants the finance committee to be established soon, and in regards to the funding for the Haunted House event he states that S.A.I.L. is willing to give $1,500 and ASEWU would provide the remainder of the money, $1,500. D.J. stated that even though the process was not followed correctly there are other ways to go through the procedure.
  2. Kelsy Kelley clarifies to the members that she has no bias towards Greek organizations, but that she is worried about the procedure that has been taken. Her solution to this issue is to respect Court’s decision. She also stated that what they decided should be respected.

-Nick Fell has no further recommendations however he reminds the Council that they can overturn the Court’s decision or they can figure out how to have the event in another way.

  1. Samson Hatton states that splitting the money halfway with S.A.I.L. is a really good idea. He also stated that originally the money for this event was supposed to come out of the Council budget however D.J. requested for it to be taken out of the Executive budget which is possible.

-Ryan McCulloch asked if splitting the money would also require a sex week process from S.A.I.L.

  1. Samantha Armstrong stated that she would double and triple check to be sure about it but encourages everyone to be positive about the event. She also stated that she would talk to her colleagues and stated that there are two possible budgets she can look into getting the money from. Lastly she stated that it is not guaranteed but will try to make it happen.
  1. Nerissa Huff, Superior Court Associate Justice #3, reminded the Council members that D.J. offered a new idea. Nerissa also suggested that they listen to what he has to stay and go through with his idea.
  2. E.B. Vodde stated that as a student, he would love to see the Haunted House happen and he also told the Council members that this event would be great for ASEWU.
  3. Kelsy Kelley stated that she wants this event to happen, however she wants it to be done through the right procedure.
  4. James Reisenauer suggests that a solution be decided on.
  5. D.J. Jigre stated that a possible solution is to host and fund the Hunted House with $1,500 which would come out of the executive budget. The remaining $1,500 would be provided by the S.A.I.L. office, in which case would not require the funding request to undergo the finance committee. Jigre, also stated that this event would be good for S.A.I.L., ASEWU and the students of EWU.
  6. Ryan McCulloch asked D.J. Jigre when S.A.I.L. would know if they could provide the remaining $1,500.

-Samantha Armstrong states that she would let the Executives, as well as the Council members know on Tuesday by 5pm.

  1. Samson Hatton asks Samantha Armstrong what would happen if the money from S.A.I.L. is not approved. He also asks if S.A.I.L. could reimburse ASEWU after providing the full $3,000.

-Samantha Armstrong states that they can have the staff in student accounting to JV it to ASEWU’s account.