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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 14, 2008)
Clackamas Print News 3 Wednesday, May 14, 2008 ISO APPEAL: Both sides seek legal counsel iued from IZSO APPEAL, Page 1 am going to have to contest (decision) due to Oregon [ c Meeting Laws,” he said, iecision can be made under dause, and I actually have for you how this d open meeting as per my ion. Would you like to see ! 3gal statutes in regards to to an Oregon ney General’s Office pam- , “a ‘governing body’ is •r more members of a pub- dy who have the authority Ike decisions for or recom- ations to a public body on * or administration.” e flMcamas student gov ern has an advisory posi- >n the, board of education iakes decisions regarding 1 policy. other part of the pamphlet ¡hat governing bodies may de the public, but not the i, from discussion of cer- ■ubjects by calling for an itive or closed-door ses- However. these sessions ily allowed in very limited >ses, and no decisions may ide durin them. dlowing Izso’s offering of tgal statues. Baker became )f the disagreement, claim hat the [meeting was not lat plHose. She also said I lawyer had been consult- >out whether the meeting be private. ving in, Izso read a written iient regarding his termi- 1, stating his rights to due ss and free expression. At nd of his statement, he 1 out ASG on the election ss andasked for the elec- o be considered unconsti tutional and void. “Just so you know, this is not about the elections,” Knudsen said. “This is just about you being reinstated to student gov ernment.” Izso replied, “They are directly related.” Changing the subject, Knudsen asked Izso if that was all and then asked the people in the room to leave so the com mittee could make its decision. Izso was also asked to remove himself from the room. When asked what the excep tion the committee had to Oregon Public Meeting Laws, Baker said, “You can ... talk to Bill Zuelke, who is our dean, if you have any questions ...” The small crowd gathered became agitated, questioning the constitutional basis the com mittee was using to hide behind closed doors and whether, if needed, Zuelke could be called to affirm it himself. Izso again reiterated that there was a need to state an exemption with con stitutional backing. Meeting cancellation At 3:07 p.m., the committee collected its things, stood up and left the room. Waiting for the committee to return with Zuelke, the room became loud with discussion of what was going to happen next. At 3:35 p.m., Mike Caudle of Student Outreach returned to tell Izso that the committee would not be returning. The crowd accumulated quickly, mov ing from the room to the area outside of the Fireside Lounge while Izso and Ostergren set out to find Zuelke for a written notice as to why the meeting was not continued and when it would occur. “He notified me that there was no cancelled meeting and, in fact, the meeting occurred in the way it was supposed to,” Izso said. “He said, ‘You made your statement, and the meet ing was concluded. We made a decision in private session. The decision will be sent in a letter.’” Zuelke said, “Stating legal exemption is not required. Our legal representation says we are following the law. We have a process that is fully appropriate. No rules or regulations have been broken. They met in pri vate session due to the process. We have to follow our process with our best advice on the back table.” Timeline of Events # Future action Izso is seeking legal counsel and plans on following the mat ter as far as the law will take him. “We pursue this issue with all legal vigor,” he said. “I cur rently have legal counsel, who I will be meeting with. Right now, the primary focus is to rep resent the students still ... we are really just trying to change this student government we have.” Calls made to the ASG office were not returned. ASG President Tim Lussier did not respond to messages left at his office or on his cell phone. When asked to speak with the department chair of Student Leadership and Outreach, Mindy Brown, The Print was told that she was unavailable. Tuesday, April 29 First day of the “Meet and Greet”: Izso missed the meeting due to work conflict. His student representa tive, Ostergren, was barred from speaking to stu dents by ASG Vice President Jessica Hendrickson. Wednesday, April 30 1 p.m. On the second day of the “Meet and Greet,” the conversation between students, ASG members and the candidates became heated. Wednesday, April 30 3 p.m. At the regular meeting of ASG, Izso and Ostergren requested that Adviser Mindy Brown and Hendrick son remove themselves from the election process. During new business, Senator Mitch Knudsen accused Izso of violating the ASG behavior code of conduct and failing to complete duties of his assigned position. In a closed-door session, Izso was removed from his position. leaving him ineligible to continue his candidacy for the presidential elections. i . Wednesday, April 30 Later that afternoon Izso and Ostergren drafted a letter of appeal to ASG, stating that the removal procedure was un ethical and unconstitutional according to state law. Thursday, May 1 Democrat Club President Catherine Pike spoke to Javierh Montero, ASG clubs senator, to call an emergency Interclub Council Meeting. The re quest was denied by Montero. John Shufelt Clackamas Print n questions regarding state law continued to be asked, the committee, led 1 ten Knudsen, filed out of the room. The committee made its final decision :so s appeal in an executive session. ASG ELECTION RESULTS The results of the election were an- unced Friday, May 9. The online ballot had one name for presi- nt, plus a space for a write-in. The section r vice president was the same. Michael Vu was elected president, and tisha Burley was elected vice president, -dlls made to the student government ice concerning the voting numbers were t returned by press time. Monday, May 5 3 p.m. The appeals committee met in CC126. Izso arrived to make a statement that he would not be attending due to the lack of notification. The meet ing was rescheduled. ASG AND LAWS: senators under fire Continued from ASG AND LAWS, Page 1 According to Robert Cox, adviser of Mt. Hood Community College’s ASG, Mt. Hood’s student govern ment also abides by public meeting laws, which are out lined in its 38-page constitu tion and bylaws. Lane Community College’s student government also con tains a specific clause men tioning its . adherence to the meeting laws. Clackamas’ constitution does not mention anything in regards to the particular state laws to which ASG must hold fast. Yet, according to its own constitution, members of ASG serve as a liaison between students, the administration and the Board of Education. The president of ASG holds an advisory position on the board. “According to our constitu tion, he (Lussier) is a de-facto member (to the board),” Izso said. “He is an advisory posi tion - he represents the stu dents - but he does not really have a vote. Under state law, ASG is therefore accountable as a public body.” “The issue is,” said Matt Ostergren, Izso’s student rep- resentative, “is we are attempt ing to appeal, through the nor mal processes as outlined in the handbook. To be honest, we do not like the process they are using because it is not out lined in their constitution. It is, essentially, being made up on the spot. We don’t really know what is happening.” Phone calls made to ASG Adviser Michelle Baker regarding the attorney to whom student government spoke were redirected to Zuelke once again. By press time, Zuelke was unavailable for comment, as he was out of town on business.
