Senator Harlan Mechling speaks to the rest of the ASUO Senate about why he deserves to be Senate President during Wednesday night’s meeting. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
The race for ASUO Senate president continued at Wednesday night’s meeting. ASUO Sens. Lamar Wise and Harlan Mechling were candidates for the position.@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/Harlan*Mechling@@
To begin, each candidate had a chance to read a statement they had prepared about their qualifications for the position. Mechling was the first to speak.
“My goal is to run these meetings as efficiently and fairly as possible,” he said. “If elected tonight, I will make every effort to meet with senators and listen to their thoughts.”
He mentioned that some senators have informed him that he hasn’t been as outgoing as Wise, but he intends to work on changing that. Next, Wise read his statement.
“A lot has happened in the past few weeks, but I think it is time to more forward,” Wise said. “There is a lot we have to do in terms of the rest of this year. I just want to finish strong.”
Wise mentioned that Constitution Court Chief Justice Nick Schultz pulled him aside and commended him, saying he was happy to see he was nominated. He also went on to talk about how dedicated he was to the position before.@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/schultz/23408@@
Senator Wise and Mechling sit in a hallway outside of the Walnut Room as the ASUO Senate has a discussion about the pros and cons of each candidate. Mechling would go on to win the race and become Senate President, but not before nominating wise for the Senate Vice President position. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
“I have sacrificed a lot for this position,” Wise said. “I would like to humbly ask you all for the chance to serve you all.”
The floor was opened to the rest of the body for specific questions for each candidate. People asked about their passion for Senate and their definition of leadership. After questions were answered, Wise and Mechling were asked to leave the room so the group could discuss freely.
ASUO Sen. Bri Woodside-Gomez wasn’t present for last week’s discussion, but still voiced an opinion.
“I’m really caught between voting for someone who didn’t do their duties and voting for someone who is completely disrespectful to many senators in here,” Woodside-Gomez said. “After talking with Lamar last night, I think I’m willing to give him a second chance to prove himself again.”
Some senators were still upset by the conversation that was held last week. ASUO Sen. Lindy Mabuya expressed her concerns. She filed a grievance that led to Wise’s removal. The grievance stated that he did not hold a cultural competency training by the time required in the Green Tape Notebook, and because of this, Wise was removed by Con Court.
“No matter how hard I try and no matter how many things I say, a lot of you are just not going to get it,” Mabuya said. “It comes down to me getting over the fact that some of you are just not going to get it. The amount of disrespect that I felt last week was extreme.”
People voiced their concerns for acknowledging Con Court’s decision.
“I respect Sen. Wise tremendously, but the Con Court did make a ruling to take him from his position,” ASUO Sen. Alexandra Flores-Quilty said. “I feel uncomfortable just putting him back again. I feel like we’re circumventing the system.”@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/flores-quilty@@
ASUO Sen. Ben Bowman disagreed with this point, saying reinstating Wise wouldn’t be an act of going against the rules. He showed disappointment at the change in opinions from last week.
“What we’re doing is not somehow against the rules,” Bowman said. “There is nothing in my opinion that is odd or weird about this decision.”
After the discussion, the body voted and Mechling was made Senate president.
