Juana Garcia/The Cougar
Last Wednesday, the Student Government Association found itself balancing its attention between important committee matters and the ongoing censure of Sen. Jesus Nieto.
On July 5, Sen. Nieto was notified of his removal as Committee Chair for Graduate & Professional Students as well as his removal from the Internal Affairs Committee.
Nieto’s actions in question include publicly criticizing other SGA officials and the organization without evidence, interrupting discussion with irrelevant comments and further provoking inefficient conflict between SGA members.
Speaker of the Senate Sebastian Ballesteros removed Nieto based under a clause in the SGA Bylaw that says that “the speaker will coordinate all Committees of the Senate.” According to Ballesteros, he interpreted this clause as permitting the ability to add and remove senators if necessary.
However, his decision was challenged by Nieto on the basis that the speaker’s actions are an overreach of power.
“If a branch has not been clearly provided a specific power in one of these documents, it does not have said power, regardless of context. No powers are implied and no entity, branch or actor in Student Government will grant a power to themselves or another that is not outlined in this Constitution,” Nieto said.
Since the clause does not explicitly state that the speaker has the power to remove an established senator, the validity of the censure was up for debate.
Former Speaker of the Senate Sophia Wilson highlighted key issues for the senate to address.
“Whether or not his behavior was appropriate, it’s also whether or not the speaker has the authority to remove him from the committee,” Wilson said.
Adjustment of Senate Committees is not a rarity in SGA and if necessary, anticipates the efficiency of the branch.
As SGA does not have a current standing attorney general, economics senior Micah Erfan provided legal clarification on the matter.
“If we extend the interpretation we’ve been using, the speaker has the ability to add to committees and remove people from committees,” Erfan said.
He then suggested passing a resolution to close the case.
The resolution of censure will be put to a first read on July 31 and will be voted on during the following meeting. If approved, Nieto would remain a senator and a member of the Graduate & Professional Students Committee but would no longer serve as its chair.
The resolution includes a provision for Nieto to potentially regain his chair position and possibly be reinstated to the Internal Affairs Committee, provided he completes a Human Resources training as specified by the Internal Affairs Committee and SGA Advisor Keith Kowalka.
Nieto’s court filings were placed on hold because the court has failed to achieve quorum twice in a row, preventing him from challenging the procedural aspects of his committee removals.
As of last night, the SGA court is deliberating on the censure case, with results expected to be announced soon. Should the resolution pass, it would impose various penalties on Nieto, including removal from chair positions, committee roles or reduced speaking time at SGA meetings.
