Home > MetNews

Resignation waves hits assembly
Recent loss of two senators leaves four vacant SGA positions
By David Pollan
dpollan@mscd.edu

The Student Government Assembly recently lost two more members, leaving a total of four of its seats vacant, according to the SGA President, Jack Wylie.

Senator Kurt White and the interim vice president, Carlos Lopez, resigned from their respective positions on Nov. 1.

The SGA was already short its representative to the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board after the resignation this fall of Jordan Bair. The position must be filled by a special election.

Additionally, there has not been a permanent vice president since Wylie’s re-election in May, and the SGA has decided to add the position of vice president to the special election ballot due to disputes over the nomination of a candidate. Had a nomination been approved, the position would only be filled until the next election, when the appointee would either run for election or resign.

The SGA constitution states that the speaker pro tempore is to act as interim vice president in the event of a vacancy. Since Lopez was serving in this capacity, he must be replaced immediately.

Lopez’s resignation leaves the SGA without an acting vice president for the second time this year.

“As soon as there is a vacancy, the first order of business is to elect a new speaker pro tempore,” Wylie said. “The new speaker pro tempore will be elected at the next SGA meeting and will serve as acting vice president until the special election.”

A serving senator will be elected as speaker pro tempore on Nov. 1, Wylie said. Gary Lefmann has been acting in the capacity of interim speaker pro tempore, and in the event that he is elected to the permanent position, a new interim speaker would need to be elected, according to Wylie.

Before the special election can take place, an election committee must be formed.

Wylie has seen many responses from applicants for the election commission, he said, and is in the process of interviewing possible candidates.

“I guarantee you we will have an election commission brought forward by next Wednesday (Nov. 8),” he said. “I hope to have the special election no later than the week before finals.”

The two senate seats vacated by Lopez and White are currently not on the special election ballot, Lefmann said. If there were three or more senate seats vacant, then a special election would have to take place, he said. But since there are only two empty senate seats, it is the responsibility of the president to fill the positions by appointment.

Wylie said discussions would take place regarding whether or not the two empty seats would be on the special election ballot, but if it did not break any SGA laws, he would just as soon put the seats on the ballot.

“It would be the most viable option and probably a preferable option,” Lefmann said.

Regarding the reasons behind White’s resignation, Lefmann said that White received another job opportunity and was unable to fully commit his time to the senate.

“Kurt’s (White) loss is certainly a loss to all of us in the student government, and he will certainly be missed,” he said.

After several attempts White could not be reached for comment.

Lopez said his own resignation was due to personal reasons and time constraints. He said he wanted to focus on his education and couldn’t stand to watch his grades slip as a result of his work on the senate.

“My academics override any job that I may have,” Lopez said. “It was a decision I had to make for myself and for my family.”

Wylie said he was disappointed to see Lopez leave, but felt Lopez was making the right decision by no longer accepting the paycheck if he could not fully serve Metro’s student body.