The Associated Students board of directors voted on the university’s request for financial assistance, the appointment and resignation of members and on letters of support for propositions through Zoom on Wednesday.
Vote on SJSU budget deficit assistance
The first action item was the request for a $4 million A.S. reserve fund due to the university’s $92 million deficit.
“We are going to leave a legacy of what will be provided for the upcoming year, so let’s keep that in mind,” Controller Flor Sario said.
Action items need favorable votes from two-thirds of the board in order to pass. However, eight votes was the key number, rather than the usual 9, since one board member was not present at the meeting.
The board denied the $4 million request.
Resignation and new appointments
The A.S. board appointed political science senior Ashley Guerrero and justice studies junior Kelly Prashar as students-at-large for A.S. Lobby Corps.
According to the SJSU A.S. website, the A.S. Lobby Corps, “makes recommendations to the A.S. President and the A.S. Board of Directors concerning the impact of pending legislation in the state legislature and the U.S. Congress concerning San José State University, the California State University system, and education in general.”
A.S. Director of Internal Affairs Rebecca Jimenez resigned from her position.
President Zobeida Delgadillo said Jimenez stepped down from the position because of personal issues. Jimenez stepped down immediately after notifying other board members. The board unanimously voted to approve her resignation.
Business administration junior Vivian Luc has been chosen as Chief Elections Officer (CEO), and the entire board praised Luc in the chat and onscreen.
The Chief Elections Officer presides over all election-related meetings, prepares the annual Students’ Election Commission (SEC) budget and serves as the budget authority for the SEC.
“I wanted to increase voter engagement at San Jose State University, ensuring students are informed of the candidates,” Luc said in an email to the Spartan Daily.
Luc believes it is very important that students understand who is being appointed to serve as a voice for the student body.
“I wanted to make sure that information is conveyed adequately through social media platforms as elections are virtual,” she said.
Vote to support propositions
The board also voted to approve letters written by members of A.S. Lobby Corps in support of Propositions 15, 16, 17, 18 and 21.
Director of Legislative Affairs Kadence Walker shared revised versions of the letters of support written by the board of directors. Nina Chuang, director of Student Resource Affairs, pointed out there should be an edit made to change the last sentence of the letter in support of Proposition 15 to provide clarity of the letter’s intent.
Director of Academic Affairs Anoop Kaur added the letter should be addressed to students and not voters to provide inclusivity to the entire campus community.
Vice President Brendan Quock pointed out that Chuang should suggest an amendment to the letter rather than a smaller, friendly amendment that applies to commas and misspelled words, so she brought a motion for an amendment to the letter.
Chuang suggested changing the wording on a letter of support from “Support students in the State of California by voting Yes on Proposition 15,” to “The A.S. of SJSU fully supports California Proposition 15.”
However, Kaur questioned the validity of the amendment.
Chuang clarified the last sentence would give a summary of the board’s stance on the proposition in case the letter was too long and give students a “TL;DR” version of the letter.
Disagreeing with the amendment, Leadership and Government Coordinator Samantha Quiambao mentioned that the A.S. board should not be telling students how to vote.
The board then voted against Chuang’s amendment suggestion to the letter.
Support for the Proposition 15 letter didn’t meet the two-third vote threshold.
Kaur questioned if her fellow directors recognized the significance of Proposition 15, which would provide more funding for public K-12 schools and community colleges.
“Basically we just said that A.S. does not support funding public schools, so I just want us to take the other propositions more seriously,” Kaur said.
Walker thought differently.
“To me, I would say this one is the most important one,” Walker said of the letter to support Proposition 16.
A vote for Proposition 16 would mean the repeal of 1996’s Proposition 209 that ended affirmative action in California, according to Ballotpedia.
Once again, the last sentence of the letter, “We urge voters to vote yes…”, was highly debated among the directors.
Executive Director Carole Dowell suggested the group change it, which they did by saying “We, the Associated Students of San Jose State, give our support and endorsement for Prop. 16.”
The board voted in favor of approving a letter of support for Proposition 16 to which Walker said, “That’s awesome. That’s a really amazing thing we just did guys, so we should give ourselves a pat on the back for that one.”
The letter in support of Proposition 17 was the next item, which grants voting after the completion of a prison term, which the board approved.
The board then presented the letter to support Proposition 18, allowing 17 year olds, who are on the cusp of their 18th birthday, the right to vote.
Walker supported the letter of approval for Proposition 17.
“17 year olds work, they have jobs, a lot of them are in college,” Walker said. “I really really think it’s important they be able to vote. Voting is a habitual habit so the more people do it, the more likely they are to do it in the future.”
The board then passed the letter supporting the proposition.
Walker explained that Proposition 21 was important to students because it would enact rent control on residential properties, especially affecting those that live in the downtown community.
The board voted in support of the letter endorsing Proposition 21.
With the general election around the corner, the board hopes students will get up and go vote.
