SGB addresses new endorsement charges

The SGB elections committee found one slate not guilty on two charges and dismissed those filed… The SGB elections committee found one slate not guilty on two charges and dismissed those filed against another in a meeting last night. The committee found the One Vision One Voice slate, which consists of presidential candidate Kevin Morrison and board candidates Lance Bonner and Kate Marchetti, not guilty of accepting an illegal endorsement from the SGB governmental relations committee. Current board members Lacee Ecker and Endia Vereen alleged that SGB governmental relations committee chair Pete Hammerle’s statement of support on the One Vision One Voice Web site violated a rule that SGB committees can’t endorse candidates. They also cannot allow them to use their resources. Elections committee chairman Patrick Moroney said in an e-mail that the committee ruled, ‘While Mr. Hammerle speaks on behalf of the committee in official business, such as an SGB meeting, the comments referenced on the Web site of One Vision One Voice were made in an individual capacity.’ The committee also decided last night to dismiss charges that the Revolution slate ‘- presidential candidate Dan Gore and board candidates Joseph Redemonti and Alicia Simpson ‘- filed against the Students First slate. Members of Revolution said in a letter to Moroney yesterday that they believed the members of Students First accepted an endorsement from The Pitt Shop,’ which is on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard. The Revolution candidates said they stopped by The Pitt Stop to ask if they could hang a sign on one of the business’ trucks and were told that they could not do so. Students First, which consists of presidential candidate Amanda Reed and board candidates Nila Devanath and Charlie Shull, had a sign on one of The Pitt Stop’s trucks. Moroney said that, if he understood correctly, Chas Bonasorte, the owner of The Pitt Shop, allowed the members of Students First to hang their sign on his shop because they purchased their T-shirts from him. Moroney later said in an e-mail that they did not think the Revolution slate presented them with enough evidence to show that Students First had violated election code rules that prohibit slates from accepting an endorsement from any group other than a recognized student organization, fraternity or sorority. ‘Specifically, the committee felt that because the offer was made by Chas to all candidates and slates equally, with equal conditions, there was no ground for a complaint,’ said Moroney.