The ASUO Constitution Court ruled Wednesday that the Student Senate meeting where no minutes were taken was in violation of Oregon Public Meetings Law but declined to void the meeting.
The opinion issued by the court says justices had to weigh the public’s right to information with “the harm done to parties who have acted in good faith off of the results of the meeting, if the decisions made at the meeting are found void.”
“It is the Court’s conclusion that the damage done by voiding the June 13 ASUO Student Senate meeting outweighs the benefit to be gained from said action. Therefore, the results of the meeting stand,” the ruling says.
At the June 13 meeting, the Senate appropriated funds for new drums for the Oregon Marching Band and confirmed four new senators. The four senators have been serving ever since.
“I’m really excited that we got to keep all of our appointments,” Sen. Kate Jones said. “I’m also glad that we get to move forward.”
Sen. Neil Brown, who filed the grievance to which the court was responding, said the ruling made sense but he regretted that it took so long for the court to act.
The last paragraph of the court’s ruling says the decision does not mean “the actions of the Respondent in this matter have been at all acceptable.” The ruling says the Senate must follow the Public Meetings Law, “specifically the requirement that it take of written minutes of all of its meetings… Failure to do so will find the Respondent in contempt of this Court and subject to strict penalties.”
Jones said that warning was “more extreme than most courts would go, but I respect it. It’s a valid interpretation of the law.”
During Wednesday’s meeting senators approved reconstructed minutes of the June 13 meeting without any discussion. Brown was the only senator to vote against the approval of the minutes.
In other business, $3,723 was allocated from surplus to Co-Op Family Center to purchase a new van. The center provides transportation to children of students and community members. The center had been using a University shuttle until staff were informed in September that they could no longer do so because they are contractors and not University employees.
“This is an excellent example of how the surplus should be used,” Sen. Patrick Boye said.
Two other surplus requests were delayed indefinitely. Ad-Club requested $10,000 to prepare for a competition this spring because it has no operating budget for this year. Club representatives said last year’s leaders did not know when to attend Programs Finance Committee meetings. Senators asked them to come up with a more realistic number and return next week.
The Senate also tabled a request to buy itself a weekly classified ad in the Emerald after several senators questioned if the money could be used for a different advertising format.
Sarah Oakes, an executive appointee, was confirmed to senate seat 12. That means all 18 seats are now full, and six are executive appointees.
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