CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the number of votes by which the motion to take away Allie Curtis’ privilege to reside over general assembly meetings was misstated due to an editing error. The motion passed by 18 to 15. The Daily Orange regrets this error. 

Student Association President Allie Curtis will no longer occupy the podium for the remainder of the semester’s general assembly meetings.

The decision to withdraw Curtis’ ability to preside over assembly meetings was part of a three-pronged disciplinary effort against Curtis that was reached during Sunday’s special general assembly meeting in the Schine Student Center. Additionally, Curtis was censured for allowing a non-matriculated student to serve in the cabinet, and ordered to submit proof of cost before she’s issued stipend money to conduct business over the summer.

The general assembly also decided against revoting on continuing the impeachment process against Curtis after four fraudulent ballots were cast during last Monday’s vote.

Eugene Law, the assembly representative who submitted the motion to remove Curtis from presiding over the remaining assembly meetings, said he doesn’t believe discussion relating to Curtis’s conduct will conclude by semester’s end.

“I feel that it’s sort of inappropriate for her to chair meetings that are discussing her actions,” Law said.

The motion passed 18 to 15. Vice President Duane Ford will oversee the remaining meetings, though Curtis will continue in her capacity as president outside the Monday general assembly meetings.

Following the meeting, Curtis said a number of assembly meetings will take place in the coming weeks, including an open forum regarding the renovation of the Schine Student Center. It’s not a matter of who leads the meetings, but that they happen, she said.

Curtis will also have to provide proof of cost for items such as travel and lodging for events such as student send-offs before any of the $2,000 summer stipend she’s allotted through SA can be dispersed. Law initially motioned to strip Curtis of the summer stipend entirely, but was struck down by the assembly.

The censure admonishing Curtis for her actions states she has “kept her decision-making private and undisclosed,” throughout the 57th session. Curtis proposed the idea of creating a press secretary position to keep a non-student — former public relations co-director Colin Crowley — in the organization without informing cabinet members of her intentions. The censure didn’t refer to Crowley by name.

“Her closed decision-making process has promoted non-transparency and a lack of integrity,” according to the censure, which also criticized Curtis for missed meetings and demonstrating a lack of professionalism.

Assembly representative Sean Dinan said he once waited two hours for Curtis to appear during her office hours and said he was in the office on occasions when Curtis did not show for meetings with then-Chief of Staff PJ Alampi. During the meeting, Curtis acknowledged she missed some meetings, but notified Ford beforehand in those instances.

The assembly voted against issuing a censure against chair of the Student Life Committee Ivan Rosales-Robles for anonymously sending a cryptically worded email to a Daily Orange editor and Curtis indicating Crowley’s academic status.

While some assembly representatives called Rosales-Robles’ actions inappropriate, they conceded his actions were not as severe as Curtis’ and did not merit the same level of punishment. Rosales-Robles issued an apology to the general assembly and media on Tuesday.

The general assembly did not motion to issue a censure against Public Relations Director Cara Johnson who, along with Curtis and Alampi, had knowledge of Crowley’s status as a non-matriculated student.

Alampi resigned as chief of staff on Tuesday. The organization is in search of chief of staff applicants, Curtis said before Sunday’s meeting concluded.

Curtis also said the organization is looking for a recorder, as Belen Crisp, who is currently holding the position, is taking a leave of absence. Crisp acted as recorder on Sunday, but couldn’t be reached for comment after the meeting.

Fraudulent votes

Despite the discovery of four fraudulent votes, the general assembly voted against rescinding Monday’s vote to halt impeachment proceedings against Curtis.

The votes were discovered after Board of Elections and Membership chair Emily Ballard cross-checked the ballots with the final roll call, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. The four votes were not signed and could not be attributed to any individual, Ballard said. SA’s advisers counted Monday’s votes and did not realize there were four unsigned votes.

During Monday’s vote, 29 assembly members voted against continuing with the impeachment process against Curtis and 18 voted in favor. The vote was originally counted as 31-20, in favor of stopping the impeachment process.

While the votes did not sway the decision in either direction, a revote would have been “important from the standpoint of integrity,” Parliamentarian Ben Jones said.

 

Published on April 7, 2013 at 11:15 pm

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong