By Jonathan Gray
Stacy Brooks resigned this week from his position as Executive Vice President. This position made Brooks the head of the SGA Senate. The announcement came shortly after the senate voted to certify the results of the recent elections.
The elections had been marked by controversy surrounding the process of the elections. A senate meeting was called to decide whether or not the elections were credible under the SGA’s constitution: the Senate decided that the election was credible. He explained that the greatest factor in his decision to resign was “the thought that I was not only a witness of what I consider to be a complete mockery of the “so-called” democratic process, but that I would also be expected to come up with some sort of solution which could “tidy up” the rest of this unconstitutional mess. Every decision made concerning this election subsequent to last Monday’s emergency Senate meeting is completely bogus. I refuse to be a party to what is obviously wrong.”
There will be a new Executive Vice President for the remainder of the semester. However, Brooks pointed out that the Senate’s current nominee, Sean Deskins, will not be able to fill the position. He continued, “This is just another indication that the Senate cares, or knows, little about constitutional procedures. Mr Deskins could not fill the EVP spot for the remainder of the year because the constitution clearly states that the EVP nominees must have all been elected in a general election. Mr Deskins was not; he was elected in a council election this semester.”
Brooks gave some suggestions for making next year’s election run more smoothly: “Separate the Supreme Court from the election commission duties. That’s first; there are no checks and balances when they run the election, then get to decide whether it was handled in a constitutional manner; that just doesn’t make much sense. The Supreme Court should hear violations and settle disputes between executive and legislative branches. I believe the model already exists, all they have to do is copy it.”
Chris Marlin, current SGA Senator and SGA President-elect for the 2002-03 term, said of Brooks’ decision: “I’m very disappointed about his decision to resign. With one month left of his term, there is still a lot that can and needs to be done. It is unfortunate that he has prematurely ended his term, but the Senate must look to the future and to moving on.”
