The vote on a by-law that would add to the responsibilities of Human Resources was postponed at an Associated Student Organization (ASO) meeting Thursday, April 25 due to an error in placement on the meeting’s agenda.
When Chief Justice of the Judicial Court Mario Lopez first introduced By-Law 105, it was to specifically outline the responsibility of Human Resources in regard to orienting appointed ASO officers for their roles, Lopez said.
However, after By-Law 105 passed through the Policy Committee and was to be discussed and voted on at the next ASO meeting as noted by agenda item 7.3.3, Lopez stepped in to correct ASO officers from making a motion telling them the item had to be tabled.
“It was tabled because it was under the section of constitutional amendments, but it’s not a constitutional amendment, it’s a by-law addition,” Lopez said.
If it was placed under the 7.2 Voting Item section in the agenda instead of the 7.3 Constitutional Adjustments/Amendments section, By-Law 105 could have been voted on, Lopez added.
By-Law 105 was introduced in lieu of past-appointed ASO officers who said they did not know their responsibilities because they hadn’t been oriented for their positions.
“We did have some students complain that they did not get oriented and then also HR [Human Resources] didn’t know this was their responsibility,” Lopez said.
In the past, Human Resources have not been very involved in orienting appointed ASO officers, Vice President Norman Xavier said. However, he commended this year’s Director of Human Resources Hodari Harris in being organized and diligent.
He also said By-Law 105 being listed under the constitutional amendments section was a small error on his part since he is the ASO officer who writes meeting agendas.
“I make the agendas and I was working on this with another executive member so this time it [By-Law 105] was placed on 7.3 when in fact it should have been placed on 7.2,” Xavier said. “I definitely can improve on my job and this was a mistake, however, I know I can do better.”
This was one of the first errors on an ASO meeting agenda during the spring 2019 semester, Xavier said. Being able to vote on items comes down to proper placement on the agenda and more revision of the agenda, he added.
Xavier commended Lopez for correcting ASO officers from voting on the by-law. Lopez said stepping in to correct senators from voting on the item regardless of the item being one he introduced was important.
“I’m supposed to know these rules not by heart but obviously be able to refer to them, or if I do know them by heart, let them know,” Lopez said. “If we’re not following these rules, we’re doing a disservice.”
Appointed ASO officers include those part of the Judicial Court, Commissioners and Division Council Members, President of ASO Joey Mardesich said. They are appointed after being recommended by ASO officers and are confirmed by an ASO vote.
By-Law 105 would be another way to establish responsibilities for ASO officers despite already being stressed in interviews and written in the constitution, Mardesich said.
“I’m in support of it but it’s already kind of a responsibility,” Mardesich said. “It’s kind of an unwritten rule that we’ve had in ASO but we just want to put it on paper for future ASOs.”
Earlier this semester, the responsibility of the over $450,000 budget used for clubs and programs including fine arts and athletics was transferred from the Auxiliary Services Board to the ASO by the Board of Trustees. The next ASO meeting is Thursday, May 9.
