Former ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz filed an electronic grievance on Tuesday afternoon to remove ASUO President Ben Eckstein and Vice President Katie Taylor from office based on events from the 2011 ASUO election. @@http://asuo.uoregon.edu/executive.php?a=12@@
“I believe that the results of the 2011 ASUO Election are invalid,” Dotters-Katz said in an email. “ASUO Executive candidates Sinjin Carey and Kaitlyn Lange would undoubtedly have won the election if the rules had been enforced.” @@http://www.uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/Sinjin*Carey@@ @@http://www.uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/Kaitlyn*Lange@@
The grievance was filed hours after the Emerald reported that former Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group Board Chair Charles Denson allegedly donated $673 to Eckstein and Taylor’s campaign. Denson was the OSPIRG chair and had been married to Taylor for two years when he made the alleged donation. @@Today’s paper@@
Dotters-Katz said the Ben & Katie campaign violated ASUO elections rules by not disclosing the donation to the ASUO Elections Board. The consequences for violating such rules are removal from either the campaign or from office.
“I filed this petition because the student body deserves more than a president who believes he is above the rules and whose year in office has been bankrupt of integrity or honesty,” Dotters-Katz said. “We cannot send the message that you can get away with blatant corruption simply if you are good enough at hiding it.”
Taylor told the Emerald that she did not know about Denson’s donation. Dotters-Katz called her response “laughable” and said it undermines her credibility. Taylor did not respond to the Emerald’s request for comment.
Eckstein said he will write a response to the Constitutional Court, which will review the grievance.
“It’s absurd. It is yet another politically motivated grievance designed to obstruct the work that Katie Taylor and I have done,” Eckstein said. “We won’t let it distract us.”
The ASUO term of office ends May 24. Dotters-Katz said he wants to see Carey and Lange serve as interim president and vice president as soon as possible. Should the ASUO president be removed, the Senate president, currently Lamar Wise, would serve as interim president, according to ASUO’s governing rules.