Published On: Mon, May 12th, 2014

Over two months later, FAU gets new SG President and Vice President

1654022_10203583493254945_1421369001_nby Kathryn Wohlpart

Michael Cepeda and Thomas DeMaio, Florida Atlantic University’s newly elected student government president and vice president, were officially sworn into office on May 9.

On Feb. 28, FAU’s student government elections board chair, Michael Brown, released the unofficial results after problems with the voting systems caused the elections board to change the voting period.

Cepeda and DeMaio promise to bring more student representation to FAU’s Board of Trustees, the board governing the policies of the university. “There is really no reason why if we have a program students are working on, why we can’t have more data to back it up — more student leaders to come to meetings,” said Cepeda.

Cepeda and DeMaio are giving up their parking spaces in front of the Student Union so that other students may park closer to their classes, stating that if they can even make two students’ commutes easier it is worth it.

Cepeda and DeMaio sat down with FAU Police Department to learn about new safety initiatives that FAU PD are working on, such as a new safety app.“[It] is very similar to the [emergency] light posts on campus, but it’s actually in your phone,” said Cepeda. Safety is something every student should be concerned about according to the new student leaders.

Cepeda and DeMaio were officially announced as student government president and vice president on April 25 after two months of contestations against the election.

After the election board met privately, candidates were given two weeks to gather and file paperwork and complaints about the election. Complaints accuse the other party of violating student government’s Constitution or statutes.

The private meeting held on Feb. 27 by the elections board violated Florida’s Sunshine Law due to the lack of notice provided, according to Barbara Petersen, president of the state’s First Amendment Foundation. “There is no such thing in Florida law as a private meeting. All meetings at which public business is to be transacted or discussed, board business in this case, must be open and noticed to the public,” said Petersen.

The Associate Dean of Students, Terry Mena, stated that the meetings did not violate the Sunshine Law because they were not “voted-on meetings.”

The lack of voting does not prevent the meetings from breaking the law, “If they’re subject to the Sunshine [Law]…and they held a meeting and they didn’t provide notice, that’s a violation of the law,” Petersen said. According to SG statute 305.510, “elections meetings are subject to Sunshine Law.”

More complaints were filed this year than ever — a total of 28 — resulting in the delayed announcement of the official results. The Cepeda/DeMaio ticket receiving two minor violations and one major violation and the opposing ticket, the Callahan/Morris ticket, receiving the same. The elections board determined that the violations had not affected the outcome of the elections and did not disqualify either party.

 

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