San José State student government organization Associated Students (A.S.) hosted its first Board of Directors meeting of the month by tackling a few initiatives centered around public transportation and future elections on Wednesday.
Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) committee member Harry Neil said the board passed a resolution to support the Stevens Creek Vision Coalition Letter, which will encourage the vision of implementing a bus only lane on Stevens Creek Blvd.
Over 10,000 people use the bus along Stevens Creek and adding bus lanes will shorten trips for community members, according to a Nov. 7 Lavoz News article.
A.S. Vice President Chima Nwokolo said he was glad to see the resolution pass and the project’s vision.
“That’s a step forward in the right direction for progress as we are now making sure that we are being heard in support of this letter,” Nwokolo said.
Since the beginning of the year, AS has been operating with some roles not being filled. However they were able to fill one recently from the student elections commission.
Third-year business student Glerys Gonzalez was elected chief elections officer during the meeting.
“I wanted to become the chief elections officer because last year, I didn’t even know elections were happening until voting season,” Gonzalez said. When I did vote, I didn’t like the fact that there were not many people running.
The A.S. elections on campus are conducted by the student election commission, which is a committee made up of students and staff advisors, according to an SJSU web page.
Gonzalez has held the position for three weeks and is focusing primarily on getting her team together right now.
“I’m very picky,” Gonzalez said. “But I do need them filled before I can do anything, so that is what I have been trying to do for the past three weeks,”
Another factor that had been slowing Gonzalez down was the amendment of the election regulations manual.
The purpose of the manual is to make rules that enable students an equal opportunity to campaign and run for a position in the SJSU student body, according to a document containing last year’s manual.
Gonzalez said she has to tell her team about the new election regulations manual before she can start so she had to wait on the A.S. Board of Directors to approve the new manual.
Leonardo Plazola, the director of Student Rights and Responsibilities, and Teairra Brown director of Student Resource Affairs, have been working on a final draft of the manual along with Nwokolo.
“We can make sure that students who run for the next board will stick to the guidelines and have rules in place to make sure that it is not as chaotic as the previous board election,” Nwokolo said.
A.S. President Ariana Lacson said she was also pleased to see the manual get finalized in time for students to be able to apply for these positions for next year.
“It’s important to have that framework for the next student elections commission to go off,” Lacson said.
While they were able to get stuff done on Wednesday, Lacson said she is looking ahead toward what is next for the Board of Directors to work on as they continue to work with different groups around campus on behalf of students.
“Our work is never done,” Lacson said. “There is a lot of great work for us to still do as we head into what this new presidency and political landscape will look like for our students.”
