The senior class council has voted to remove one of its members following allegations that he failed to do his job despite repeated warnings from his peers.
The general Student Council voted in favor of a measure by the senior class to impeach Derrick Kuan, senator for COLA [Council on Leadership Appointment]. This represents one of only two such events in the last two years.
"We had talked to him last semester about his conduct," senior class President Natasha Singh said. "We made the decision that he wasn't changing. He had a good two to three months to perform his duties and he didn't."
Although Kuan admitted that he made little effort to defend himself, he claimed that the Council was "overreacting. They thought I wasn't doing my job on the senior class council, which doesn't make any sense," he said. Kuan said that the council charged that he did not attend mandatory meetings, and that he interrupted ones that he did attend. He holds that all of his absences had legitimate excuses.
"It wasn't anything personal," Singh said. "We were just more efficient without him than with him."
The majority of the proceedings was carried out in closed council. Members of the senior class council were reluctant to discuss the issue - citing its lack of importance in the
greater scope of what they are doing.
"It's sad that we had to lose a member of the Council, but I have faith in the senior class decision. We have to respect that and respect the process. It's unfortunate that it happened, but it's sort of the reality. The Council depends on one another," executive board President Scott Bierbryer said.
The process for finding a replacement for Kuan was swift. The current Student Council constitution mandates only that the respective class council president appoint a replacement to fill the empty position.
In the past, most councils chose to undertake an open application process before appointing a new member, but Bierbryer is allowing the council to forego this process, according to Singh.
As such, the remaining members of the senior class council discussed several potential candidates in closed meetings before choosing Steve Dunay.
The senior was an active member of the Social Board during last semester, as Kuan's replacement.
"We felt that he had proved himself," Singh said.
Under the current constitution, there are two methods by which to carry out an impeachment.
The first, in which the class council must achieve a two-thirds vote amongst the six remaining members to suggest impeachment, was used in last week's proceedings.
Only five were present last week due to the absence of senior class council member Aaron Selikson.
The decision then went to the entire Student Council, which could have blocked the impeachment with a four-fifths majority.
Finally, the decision to remove the defendant from office should go to closed council, where an undisclosed majority must vote to block it.
During the proceedings involved in last week's impeachment, none of these safeguards were put into action.
"I didn't know what to say because they came out with ridiculous claims," Kuan said.
"I probably could have stood up for myself better than I did, but I thought the general student council would understand that this was bull----. It is partially my fault for getting impeached in general but it was a bull---- situation in the first place," he said.
The second option for impeachment proceedings is less commonly used.
In this process, a majority of two-thirds of the entire council must vote in favor of impeachment.
The rest of the process is similar to the first method.
Under the possible new constitution, the impeachment process is simplified.
Two-thirds must vote in favor of impeachment in writing, and then the decision to remove the officer from his position goes on to debate and discussion by closed council.
"I think the impeachment process worked, but it's very cumbersome and its one of the problems with our current constitution. Instead of just going through one class, I think a better system may instead have included more support from the council at large," Bierbryer said.
"Senior class events are very important to them. I can understand how one destructive member can harm their efforts," Bierbryer added.
