ASI Senate at odds over new amendment

Published on the CSULB Daily 49er's newspaper Web site Nov. 8.

The Associated Students, Inc. Senate was at odds Wednesday when the first reading of a bylaw amendment, which will increase secretary positions for some under-represented groups, passed.

The amendment attempts to add secretaries to the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs, the Committee on Disabilities Affairs and the Committee on Women Affairs. The Committee on Women Affairs currently has a secretary, but has been in violation of the ASI bylaws for three years, according to ASI President Mark Andrews.

The amendment will attempt to add more positions to the ASI presidential cabinet, although Andrews wasn't fully involved in the making of the decision.

"The executive branch was wrongly kept out of the loop in regards to the development of this position," Andrews said. "I believe action should be taken, but the cabinet may not be the right place for it."

ASI Vice President and Chairwoman Lucy Montano co-sponsored the amendment, along with College of Health and Human Services Sen. Greg Lim, and was met with criticism and support from the Senate and the public gallery regarding her actions.

"I'm really disturbed that this issue is being brought up the way that it is," said James Davis, the ASI chief of staff. "The only thing I see here is the creation of positions for the heck of it."

Davis told the Senate that Montano walked in to the office and announced her plan to reconfigure the ASI president's cabinet without prior discussion.

"There was no time for dialogue," Davis said.

Apparently she asked for opinions, but later Andrews told the Senate that he thought she disregarded his suggestions.

"It's kind of a slap in the face," Andrews said. "It was all kind of sprung on me."

Montano later defended herself by informing the Senate and Andrews that she was under the impression she didn't need the ASI president's approval for such an issue.

"I was never told the president had to agree with every word," Montano said. "I understand that it's up to [the Senate]."

Technically there's nothing in the bylaws that states she is forced to report on what she's doing, according to Andrews.

"But we have executive meetings every Wednesday morning," Andrews said. "Why didn't she bring this up to me? I could provide some direction on this because I do kind of oversee the cabinet - that would make sense."

Representatives from each of the three groups addressed the Senate to show support for the amendment, but some disagreed whether or not it was necessary to separate the groups and vote on the amendments individually.

Sen. Megan Miller from the College of Health and Human Services stated she was against the separation due to the possibility of inequality among the groups.

Sen. Denise Wright from the College of Natural Science and Mathematics said, "Maybe they don't need to be treated equal. Maybe one group does deserve more recognition than the others. I honestly feel that not all of [the groups] needs to be on equal playing fields."

The second reading regarding the amendment will take place Nov. 14.

In other Senate news, the water conservation resolution passed the third reading with no opposition. Now the Senate will attempt to conform Cal State Long Beach's water usage to Long Beach city's regulations.

Also, student Vanessa Lopez was elected for the assistant secretary for systemwide affairs position and student Joan Mace was elected for the secretary for academic affairs. In addition, both were voted in as representatives for the Athletics Committee.