Associated Student Government President Steve Macias was back in office when backers of the nullified recall violated the Brown Act by not posting the time and location of a meeting to organize the recall election. Macias was the target of the recall for refusing administration orders to ask a pro-life group to leave campus during Constitution Day events. -DB
Sac City Express.com
November 9, 2009
By Stephanie Rodriguez
Associated Student Government President Steve Macias has been reinstated in full, following a failed recall attempt and a suspension approved by his fellow ASG members.
More than 600 students voted in the two-day recall election held on Oct. 27 and 28 and more than half voted to remove Macias and ASG Student Affairs Commissioner Monica Guzman from office, according to ASG Vice President Debby Dixon.
The election was declared null and void by City College on Nov. 2, however, due to a violation of an open-meeting law called The Brown Act under California Government Code Section 54954.2 which states:
“The agenda shall specify the time and location of the regular meeting and shall be posted in a location that is freely accessible to members of the public.”
The violation concerned the ASG’s failure to appropriately post the agenda for the special meeting that led to a vote to hold the recall election, ASG Vice President Debby Dixon admitted.
“I messed up the students’ voice,” Dixon said. “I forgot to put the time on the agenda set for the special meeting — just that technicality.”
The same day Macias survived the recall election results he was also suspended and stripped of his duties as president, according to City College Public Information Officer Amanda Hamilton.
“In the absence of his participation as president, the ASG Senate voted to suspend his duties indefinitely so that ASG activities can continue,” Hamilton said.
As quickly as Nov. 5, the suspension of Macias was overruled and he was reinstated in full, according to ASG Commissioner of Public Relations Justin Turner.
“A couple of the members of the ASG have began the process of impeachment,” Turner said. “President Steve Macias has broken constitutional bylaws such as … not being present at meetings, even prior to the recall.”
According to Hamilton, an application form to impeach Macias was submitted to the ASG Judicial Branch on Nov. 2.
As far as Guzman’s position as Student Affairs Commissioner, she has been officially voted out by the ASG board because of unexcused absences, according to Turner.
Guzman is being replaced with former Public Relations Commissioner Richard Martinez, who was nominated and accepted by the board.
“We have no idea where she is,” Turner said. “She had too many unexcused absences before the recall election hit. We just removed her and appointed someone new.”
Copyright 2009 Sac City Express.com