SGB elections chair questioned

Slightly more than a week before the Student Government Board election is to take place,… Slightly more than a week before the Student Government Board election is to take place, questions about the selection of the elections chair are being raised.

Though the application process for the elections chair – who oversees the SGB election process by monitoring the polls and the actual voting locations – had ended in February, the judicial committee decided to accept late applications. At which point, Jeff Alex applied for the position and was appointed elections chair.

This situation was further complicated when judicial chair Scott Morley decided he would run in the SGB election in April, because he was the head of the committee who appointed Alex.

According to SGB member Andy Hutelmyer, the judicial committee’s liaison to SGB, the committee needed more applications because they needed a more qualified candidate.

He added that had the elections chair been selected last semester, and reopening the process may not have been the right thing to do. However, the short amount of time left before the elections made it necessary for the committee to find someone who had worked the elections before.

Appointing an elections chair was held off until this semester because the board appointed Morley chair late last semester. Morley and his committee were necessary to appoint the next election chair.

Hutelmyer said the judicial committee had not received any applicants for the elections chair until January, and he thought the committee had unanimously voted for Alex.

Alex said there was at least one other application handed in during the extended one week time period.

According to former SGB member Jay Dworin, Amber Boyd, who Alex beat for SGB president last year, was one of the other applicants.

Morley said she did not apply until during the extended week, though, and Boyd was not available for comment. According to Morley, Boyd had a good resume; however, Alex was the best candidate. “There were other qualified candidates,” he said. “Jeff [Alex] was the most qualified, though.”

Morley added the committee had unanimously voted both to reopen the election process and for Alex’s appointment. As chair he did not get to vote.

The board did not need to approve the judicial committee’s appointment.

SGB President Kevin Washo Jr. agreed that the process was legitimate, especially since Alex had worked in three prior elections.

“Everything was done by the book,” he said. He added that he was confident with Morley and his committee’s decision.

SGB has reopened application processes to find more qualified candidates before, Washo said.

Alex said a friend of his, who is involved with SGB, called him to let him know they needed a more qualified candidate after the application process had ended, but he would not say who the individual was.

Alex has been involved with SGB as the freshmen affairs chair, a board member and last year as president.

Morley would not comment on the specifics of the elections chair application process including telling how many applications the committee received because that information was a “personnel issue” and the committee does not discuss personnel issues.

“I don’t believe that there have been any grounds of wrongdoing,” he said.

Presidential candidate and current SGB member Liz Culliton said there was “nothing fishy” about the process.

“Even if you had an ‘in’ with the elections chair, it really wouldn’t do anything,” she said.

She added that the elections chair has nothing to do with the results; rather the chair sets up the polling places and monitors the elections. Alex has a committee that is involved as well, so he does not have too much power, she said.

Presidential candidate and SGB member Pat Creighton said, though some may be skeptical about the judicial committee’s selection of Alex, nowhere does it state in the judicial board’s bylaws that Morley could not run.

However, Dworin said, “This is one of the shadiest things I’ve seen.”

According to Dworin, Morley waited till the last day possible to hand in his application and until after his committee had selected the elections chair.

Dworin said there is no legitimate challenge that can be made, though.

Morley said, though, it was not until the final day that he was sure he wanted to run for SGB.

However, Dworin said, Morley had gone through the application process including getting signatures for support before the deadline.

According to Morley, he talked to all of the people above him including Washo before deciding to run and no one had a problem with it.

After handing in his application, Morley had to resign from his position because people cannot be both an SGB candidate and a committee chair.

Alex said people questioning him being selected should have applied themselves.

Washo added that people who were complaining about the issue had no reason to be upset.

He said, “Everyone that has been crying like babies all year, are crying like babies now,” he said. “People just like to complain. They’re just never satisfied.”

Washo said there were one or two board members who he suspected were involved with the complaints and that they did not surprise him at all.

“The sad part is, it seems like if the wind blows the wrong way, they would complain,” he said. “If the sky’s gray one day and blue another, they’d complain.”

He added that he could not fault Morley for deciding to run for the board even though he was involved with the judicial committee because members of the allocations committee often run for office. He added that he did not think that Morley had any hidden agenda in applying for the position.

Presidential candidate and SGB member Andrea DeChellis would not state her opinion on the subject. She did say, however, “There are a lot of people who share my opinion.”

Hutelmyer said he had heard some people were bothered because they thought that some applicants were not accepted because they were black.

He said that there was nothing on the application that would have given the committee information about the applicants’ race.