SGA re-writing constitution

by N.S. Garcia
The Metropolitan

The Student Government Assembly will use a 14-page document written by former Student Trustee Harris Singer as a 'starting point' for their new constitution, which Metro students will be able to vote on in November.

Candice Gill, the SGA president, said the current constitution is too vague and conflicts with the current policy manual SGA uses. Gill said along with re-writing the constitution, the SGA, which is currently a 13-member committee, could be re-organized to form a more traditional checks-and-balances type government body.

"It's like Swiss cheese," Gill said as she flipped through the current seven-page document.

Beth Ott, SGA vice president of Communications, said the policy manual and constitution have left out significant instructions on how to handle situations such as having a majority vote, filling vacant positions and hierarchy.

Dennis Bergquist, vice president of Administration and Finance said the SGA's constitution and organization is very unique and outdated compared to other colleges and universities.

"There is no separation of powers," Bergquist said.

He pointed out that unlike other colleges that have various branches such as legislative and executive, the SGA is a single-body organization.

Problems have risen in the past two SGA cabinets concerning the removal of office for presidential appointees, vice presidents and the president.

"There is no fail-safe mechanism for removal," Bergquist said.

Gill said she agrees.

"The constitution does not match the by-laws," she said. "There is no separation of powers and there are issues of structure and internal issues we have to deal with."

She said the new constitution will hopefully allow more students to be involved.

"We'd like to see more representatives and involvement," she said.

She said a new constitution benefits the students because it will allow the SGA to better represent students and their concerns.

"The constitution is the foundation that the SGA can stand on and operate from," she said. "So if they can effectively operate, they can better represent students.

"Students have a role in how the college works and if the polices in place don't work, then how are you supposed to be effective as a body?" Gill said.

Student Trustee Stephen Hay will chair the committee re-writing the constitution.

The committee will also include Gill, Bergquist, SGA Vice President of Diversity Marziya Kaka, Chief Justice Tyler Murphy, interim Associate Dean of Student Life Yolanda Orega-Erikson and Student Activities Director Zav Dadabhoy.

Singer will also serve on the committee. He offered to co-chair at last Thursday's SGA meeting. However, Gill said she wants only one chair and that the person should be an SGA member.

Hay said he's looking for Metro students outside of SGA for input. There is no maximum number of volunteers.

LaDonna Garcia, SGA vice president of Student Services, said she wants to see weekly reports.

Two ideas for how to re-organize the student government are to make it a three-branch government similar to that of the federal government or to make it more like a corporate organization with a CEO.

Either plan would include more students, Hay said.

Hay explained that he and the committee will work inside the current SGA budget to determine a pay-scale.

Gill said she may request more funds from administration depending on how the structure works after the vote.

"We want a more conventional constitution," Bergquist said.

Hay also criticized the constitution for its lack of detail.

"It's vague in every way, it doesn't empower anybody," he said.

Gill said she wants the whole support of the SGA. She said one reason the document they're working from never moved past the draft stages was because it was a "one-man mission."

Gill said the Constitution Committee will work on drafts until Oct. 21 when she plans to call for a vote from the committee on the final document.

She said a two-thirds approval must come from the SGA voting members. She said the new constitution would be up to student vote Nov. 8. The voting would be online.

Gill said she believes it's important SGA meet the timeline. She said she doesn't think it would be fair to the students or the next SGA administration if the constitution was ratified in the spring.

Megan Reyes, who was president of SGA in the 1994-1995 academic year, told the current SGA in their meeting Sept. 9 of the problems her cabinet faced in forming a new constitution while she was president.

"We were trying to fix and tweak something in place," Reyes said. "Sometimes that's a good idea, sometimes it's not."

She said one of the most important things is that SGA builds credibility with the administration and the students.

"If you lack credibility, I don't care what you draft," she said, "You have nothing. You earn it."

She said while the role of the SGA is to represent the students needs and issues, it's up to each SGA to determine what that means.

"It is for each SGA to define that year what 'represent' means," she said. "This (SGA) is really more serious because you have a serious body."

Gill said she appreciated Reyes' advice.

"I was glad to see a former alum come to the meeting to express her passion," Gill said.

Reyes said the challenge for SGA to form this new constitution will be time. She said it took her cabinet several months and several re-writes to form a solid document.

"If it's done right, it's got to be thoughtful," she said.

Staff writer Clayton Woullard contributed to this report.