ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the April 28 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room. The ASUCD president is not required to attend senate meetings.
Meeting called to order at 6:10 p.m.
Adam Thongsavat, ASUCD president, present
Bree Rombi, ASUCD vice president, present
Yena Bae, ASUCD senator, present
Miguel Espinoza, ASUCD senator, present
Emmanuel Diaz-Ordaz, ASUCD senator, present
Andre Lee, ASUCD senator, present
Amy Martin, ASUCD senator, president pro tempore, present
Mayra Martín, ASUCD senator, present
Tatiana Moana Bush, ASUCD senator, present
Darwin Moosavi, ASUCD senator, present
Matthew Provencher, ASUCD senator, present
Brendan Repicky, ASUCD senator, present
Rebecca Sterling, ASUCD senator, present
Eli Yani, ASUCD senator, present
Appointments and confirmations
Christina Ives, Danny Carlson and Lirio Zepeda were confirmed to the Environmental Policy and Planning Commission (EPPC).
Joshua Coronado-Moses and Michael Juarez-Munoz were appointed to the Internal Affairs Commission (IAC).
Unit director reports
Mark Ling, editor-in-chief at The California Aggie, said that the paper is going to make about $50,000 more than it was planning to make this year. He also introduced Jason Alpert, who will be the editor-in-chief next year. Alpert said that he was looking into making The Aggie’s website more user friendly and interactive.
Consideration of old legislation
Senate Bill 69, authored by Andrea Abergel, co-authored by Lauren Damian, Racquel Esqueda and Martin, introduced by Martin, to implement a long-range plan for the Whole Earth Festival, passed unanimously.
Senate Resolution 16, authored by Aaron Giampetro, co-authored by Bihter Ozedirne and Kevin Pascual, introduced by Sterling, to support California Senate Bill 185 authored by California State Senate Member Ed Hernandez, passed unanimously.
Senate Bill 70, authored by Sergio Cano, co-authored by Hannah Kirshner, introduced by Bush, to implement a long-range plan for the Pantry, passed unanimously.
Senate Bill 76, authored by Dana Percoco, co-authored by Cano, introduced by Moosavi, to require special committees to report to the ASUCD Senate, passed unanimously.
Senate Bill 77, authored by Lee, co-authored by Henry Chatfield, Don Ho, Melanie Maemura, Moosavi and Thongsavat, introduced by Lee, to authorize the creation of the ASUCD Entertainment Council Large Show Reserve (Restricted) of $100,000. Before getting to the senate table, the Business and Finance Commission passed the bill, but IAC did not. Jared Hein, chair of Business and Finance Commission, said that he voted no on the bill because he felt that the Entertainment Council had larger problems within the unit that could not be solved with just increased funding. Martin pointed out that while Hein voted no on the bill, the rest of the Business and Finance Commission commissioners still voted yes. Maemura, an IAC commissioner, said she believed that if amendments that were made during the senate meeting had been made earlier, IAC probably would have passed the bill. Hein said that he thought that this bill seems to be rushed, and he thought it could be better if they spent more time on it. Thongsavat said that he felt it is the senate’s duty to be help their units do their best, and this bill would help Entertainment Council be a better unit. Bush said that she thought more people needed to be brought into the conversation and that they should wait to pass the bill until Entertainment Council came up with more ideas about fixing itself internally. Chatfield, productions coordinator with EC, agreed that Entertainment Council has had its issues in the past, but said he has a lot of ideas to restructure the unit. Espinoza said that he would like to see the Entertainment Council functioning well before they were given a large sum of money. Cano, IAC chair, said he thinks that passing this bill would influence how ASUCD will write the budget for next year. Percoco questioned how Entertainment Council was supposed to fix their unit if they didn’t have enough money to put on a concert to show that they can make money. Yani objected to passing the bill. The bill passed in an 8-3-1 vote. Espinoza, Diaz-Ordaz and Yani voted against the bill, Bush abstained.
Senate Bill 78, authored by Cano, introduced by Martin, to further distinguish legislative and initiative ballot measures in the Election Codes, passed unanimously.
Senate Bill 79, authored by Cano, introduced by Moosavi, to properly establish procedures for special meetings for subordinate bodies, passed unanimously.
Senate Bill 80, authored by Cano, introduced by Moosavi, to mandate that various guides of ASUCD to be displayed on the ASUCD website, passed unanimously.
Senate Bill 81, authored by Cano, introduced by Moosavi, to establish a parliamentary procedure guide for members of the public at ASUCD Senate meetings. Lee said that he was concerned that printing the guide each senate meeting or laminating one set wouldn’t be environmentally friendly. Will Quinn, EPPC chair, said that he did not support laminating the guides nor making a big presentation board. The bill passed unanimously.
Public discussion
Martin said that she would prefer it if people said either “yes” or “no” when voting on a bill, and not add their feelings about the bill during the vote.
Bush said she appreciates where the conversations have gone and said she feels that the table as a whole has come a long way since the beginning of the quarter.
Lee said that he wished that the senators had looked at Bill 77 more closely before the meeting so that the debate could be more efficient and pleasant.
Public announcements
Ed Montelongo said that the positions for commissioners for the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission are posted, and anyone who is interested should apply.
Martín said that there will be a screening of the movie Waiting for Superman, a documentary about the education system, this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Wellman 2.
Yani announced that he will be resigning from the senate as he is graduating this quarter.
Sterling said that a Day of Service is coming soon and that it will be focused on getting Davis students to provide community service.
Meeting adjourned at 12:36 a.m.
Open positions within ASUCD can be found at vacancy.ucdavis.edu. HANNAH STRUMWASSER compiles the senate briefs. She can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
