Proposed amendments to the ASUO Constitution will solve the problems that have blighted the ASUO’s reputation in the eyes of students, the authors of the changes say.
ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz submitted the changes on Dec. 23. They target the ASUO Constitution Court, the ASUO Elections Board and the grievance process. Those areas are major sources of embarrassment for the ASUO, says former ASUO Sen. Athan Papailiou, whom Dotters-Katz described as “the chief architect” of the amendment proposals but currently holds no official position within the ASUO.
The amendments would expand the Constitution Court from five justices to seven, which Papailiou said would give undergraduates a greater presence in the Court. Dotters-Katz’ proposal also seeks to provide more checks and balances for the court by requiring that it submit changes to its rules to the Senate for approval. Papailiou said the changes aim to help the court establish precedents and preserve continuity, which he said is hindered by high turnover of justices and the Court’s relative autonomy.
“The Court maintains a history and a tradition of unpredictability. It’s whatever way the wind blows,” Papailiou said.
Associate Justice Kevin Parks, however, said the court functions properly already and the graduation of members does not hinder consistency in its decisions.
“It takes not very long at all to learn the procedures and how the court works,” said Parks, a former ASUO senator.
The proposal also seeks to decrease the ASUO president’s influence over the Elections Board by establishing it as a body independent of the ASUO Executive’s office. Papailiou accused former ASUO President Emily McLain of using her influence to “hold secret, backdoor meetings with the Elections Board.”
Though he agreed that the proximity of the Executive to the Elections Board fostered the appearance of corruption, ASUO Vice President Johnny Delashaw said he was skeptical of the accusations against the previous board. “In the election last year, we came up with all these theories regarding corruption, even though we found out later they weren’t true,” he said.
Delashaw identified the amendment’s modifications to the grievance process as the part likeliest to repair the ASUO’s image. The proposals seek to make the process more transparent by requiring those filing grievances against officeholders to submit them to their targets in person. Delashaw and Papailiou said the change would prevent the filing of “ghost grievances” filed using the identities of stProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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ents as proxies for the real filers.
Ghost grievances caused controversy during the last election, when several grievances were filed against McLain under the name of then-freshman Caroline Beranek, whom few in the ASUO had ever met.
“There was a culture of corruption in the ASUO in previous years,” said Papailiou, who said his proposals would alleviate some of that corruption.
Matt Rose, who was Finance Coordinator under McLain, was skeptical of Papailiou’s claims and said he is “just trying to stir up drama.”
The Court will hold a public hearing on the amendments later this month.
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