SGA meeting hosts executive board debate and passes legislation
On Monday night, the Student Government Association at Central Michigan University held a debate for executive board candidates, but there were only one group of running mates.
In the University Center auditorium, there were three chairs at the table on stage. These were for Tyler Zimmerman, Ryan Biller and Natalie Brant.
Those three are running together to become the executive board of next year’s 104th session of SGA. But who are they?
- Zimmerman is a junior at CMU majoring in environmental health and leadership. He is the current chief of staff and is now running for president.
- Biller is running for vice president on the platform with Zimmerman and Brant. He’s currently a junior at CMU majoring in music education.
- Brant is currently a junior at CMU majoring in international relations, and also serves as the vice president of SGA. With Zimmerman and Biller, she’s running for treasurer.
Members of SGA had an opportunity last week to submit questions for the debate.
The first question: How will your ticket provide better communication and involvement with the student body? How will you work to increase accessibility for all students?
“Only through collaboration and community can we truly make a difference on campus,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman said that if elected, he would have the SGA e-board focus on sending out monthly newsletters, creating a website for SGA and reorganizing the information page on Engage Central. SGA currently uses Engage Central for administrative functions like taking attendance at meetings.
The next question was directed to Biller. He was asked what their intentions are with parking, construction and expansion on campus.
“We’re seeking grants and opportunities to install solar panels in parking lots on campus,” he said.
Not only that, but the group has been working to make the crosswalk between North campus and Northwest Apartments safer for pedestrians by installing a crosswalk sign.
Candidates were then asked how they would encourage involvement on campus.
Brant answered this question by listing places where events can be advertised, such as in announcements during meetings, or placing them on the website’s calendar when it’s up and running.
She also said they could feature one registered student organization (RSO) per week by allowing representatives to give a brief presentation during SGA meetings.
“At the end of the day, SGA is an organization of students helping students,” Brant said.
With only one group running for e-board positions, the debate went smoothly in a simple question-and-answer process. The end of the formal debate meant the floor was open for announcements.
Before the general SGA session dismissed to committee meetings, second-year student and SGA Senator Carolina Hernandez-Ruiz stood up to speak.
Hernandez-Ruiz claimed the agenda from the SGA meeting on Feb. 13, which included information about candidacy application deadlines, wasn’t uploaded until after that deadline had passed. She attempted to run for the position as SGA president, but missed the deadline due to this, she said.
She argued that this late upload is a violation of SGA’s constitution and bylaws. According to documentation published on Engage Central, the meeting minutes from Feb. 13, which record the proceedings, were approved and uploaded at the Feb. 20 meeting. Documentation shows since Sept. 30, 2019, SGA policy has been to approve a meeting’s minutes at the next gathering by vote; this is in accordance with standard governmental procedures.
According to the Feb. 13 minutes, SGA President Taylor Idema announced the candidate intent form for president, vice president or treasurer was available that day and the deadline to file the form was Friday of that week (Feb. 17). The minutes further show that Idema directed potential candidates to the Engage Central page for election information and deadlines.
Legislation in progress
A month ago, during the Feb. 20 SGA meeting, a Senator and the chair of the house diversity committee Nova Moore introduced a piece of legislation to the house that is intended to help RSO’s figure out how to file tax information.
The legislation they wrote is intended to update the RSO policy manual to include more resources for RSO taxes and finances and called for increased availability of tax consultations through the university.
This “Resolution Tax Policy” passed in the house with a unanimous vote of approval and minimal discussion.
More detailed information on the tax policy can be found on Central Michigan Life’s website, which was published after the meeting on Feb. 20.
