A contingent of Student Association senators have expressed concern about the lack of communication between the Senate and SA President Carrie Potter, accusing her of not following the guidelines set out in the SA constitution.
“I believe that she has not been communicating with the Senate and with her constituents in a manner that would make her an effective president,” said undergraduate Sen. Jonathan Skrmetti (CSAS).
Skrmetti said he is upset by an incident at a Sept. 30 Senate meeting where Potter informed the Senate’s Finance Committee three hours before the meeting that the amount of money available for student group allocations had been reduced. Finance Committee Chair J.P. Blackford (SEAS) said the amount available for allocation was reduced $5,200 from the original budget.
“It was obvious she had known beforehand,” Blackford said. “I think it just causes unnecessary problems on both sides.”
Potter said she realized the committee over-allocated funds to student organizations on the day of the meeting. She said she informed Blackford when she realized the amount the committee allocated exceeded the amount it had available.
“It wasn’t anything we were hiding,” she said.
Other senators complained about the way Potter handled the nominations of some SA vice presidents. Undergraduate Sen. Phil Meisner (ESIA) said Potter interviewed candidates for the vice president for student activities spot, informed the nominees she would not fill the position and then appointed someone who had not applied for the position. He said some students who were interested in the vice president of undergraduate policy position never were contacted.
Potter said both candidates followed application procedures, and everyone who was interested in the spot was interviewed. She said she placed Sarah Hirschman in the student activities position after she realized Hirschman was doing the same job with a different title.
“To put someone up before the Senate with 100 percent confidence, I have to know them and trust them,” Potter said.
Although Meisner said he has discussed his concerns thoroughly with Potter, other senators have said they have not confronted her with their problems.
“I’m hoping we can have more forward discussions between the Senate and Potter to discuss communication problems,” Skrmetti said.
Potter said she is concerned senators have not approached her with concerns and is working to reorganize the flow of information in the Senate, using Executive Vice President Jesse Strauss and committee chairs as go-betweens.
“I think we’re really trying to put pressure on everyone and make the allocation process work for student groups,” Potter said. “Every time you create pressure, you have communication problems.”
Although many senators have expressed concerns with communication, few said they feel the incidents alone warrant a reprimand from the Senate, possibly through censure or impeachment.
“It’s a pattern of issues,” Blackford said. “When it becomes a pattern, that’s when people become concerned.”
Several senators, including Skrmetti, Blackford and Meisner, said if the communication gap persists, they may consider sanctions.
“If we continue in the pattern of what is happening now, it could warrant going through the impeachment or censure process,” Blackford said.
However, all three senators said they were hesitant to start any sanction process because it could have negative effects on the organization.
Potter said communication problems only can be worked out through discussion.
“I think if we stop putting hurdles in front of each other, so we trip and fall, we could get a lot more accomplished,” she said.
Other senators, while acknowledging the communication problems, said they felt it did not warrant sanctions.
“We’re getting a little Clinton-crazy here,” undergraduate Sen. Jared Hosid (CSAS) said. “Talk of censure at this point is completely stupid.”
