Associated Students Inc. Senate barely passed a resolution that would change the chief of staff’s selection procedure at a Senate meeting last week.
The resolution was passed on its first reading with an 8-5 vote with seven Senators abstaining.
The resolution, authored by Senator-at-Large Jason Neas, proposes the president present three chief of staff nominees to the Senate and the Senate would confirm one nominee.
“It would give the Senate more of an ability to vet the candidates,” Neas said.
Under current appointment procedures, the chief of staff and chief programming officer are appointed by the new president each year and confirmed by the ASI Senate.
“[The positions] have been exploited beyond different ways, they are given to friends, given to campaign managers, given to people with political alliances,” Neas said.
ASI President Lucy Nguyen said the resolution is a good idea.
“I’m not saying that [the resolution] is a solution, I’m saying it is a good idea because it’s addressing an issue and that issue is that ASI has been getting criticism that the chief of staff obtained the position because they are the president’s friend,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said her chief of staff, Deborah Rowe, was a close friend that helped coordinate her campaign. Nguyen said, although she remained neutral in her appointment and interview process, the Senate, as a Board of Directors, should be able to choose the chief of staff confidently.
“I could say honestly I tried to be as objective as I could, but how am I to know for sure that I was objective?” Nguyen said. “I’m judging myself. If I had a board to look at applications also, it would solidify my position. I think in a way, it protects the position [of chief of staff].”
Senator of the College of the Arts, Jorge Soriano, who is also applying for chief of staff, expressed his concerns on the resolution.
“What concerns me the most is by the Senate passing this resolution, we’re saying ‘we as the board don’t trust the president is making the right decision, we need to filter that decision,'” Soriano said.
The chief of staff serves in the president’s cabinet as the senior policymaking advisor, and would act as the “secretary responsible for representing the interest of the AS to, but not limited to California State Student Association, the California State University system and State legislatures,” according to the ASI website.
Next year’s ASI president John Haberstroh said the decision of chief of staff should not be made by the Senate.
“It seems a little crazy that they would appoint who the president has to work with,” Haberstroh said. “They want to give more power to the Senate.”
According to the current bylaws, “the AS President shall have primary responsibility for the making of all AS Executive appointments.”
“I respect the author’s resolution, but I don’t think this is the way we should go about fixing it,” Soriano said.
Next year’s vice president Jonathon Bolin said that he believes it is a good idea, but the way the resolution is written is a little vague.
“There’s definitely something that needs to be done,” Bolin said. “The current proposal has a hole in it and has areas that could be read differently.”
The chief of staff makes a salary of $18,970 annually in total compensation.
“The chief of staff is a political bargaining chip,” Neas said. “That has to be put into question.”