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Anchor editor-in-chief, Anchor TV reporter and WXIN reporter all told to leave before a “private” Finance Commission meeting convened and escorted out by Campus Police, per order of SCG treasurer.
Last Wednesday, Anchor Editor-in-Chief Kameron Spaulding, pen and pad of paper in hand, sat in Parliament Chambers, Room 307 of the Student Union, with the intent of sitting in on an emergency meeting of the Finance Commission. Twenty minutes later he was escorted from the building by Campus Police while Student Community Government, Inc. Treasurer Christopher Kelly chaired the Finance Commission in an executive session.
This Free Period emergency meeting was called on Tuesday afternoon shortly after the latest edition of The Anchor newspaper, which included tentative 2010-2011 budget figures, hit newsstands around campus. Emergency meetings are rare for the Finance Commission, having taken place just a handful of times during the last three years.
Spaulding was not the only member of the media to be removed from the meeting Wednesday afternoon. WXIN News Director Andrew Augustus attempted to set up equipment to broadcast the Finance meeting live on the air, but was told that he could not do so by Kelly.
“He told me to pack up the equipment and get out while waving the “Robert’s Rules of Order” book in the air,” Augustus said.
Anchor TV also had a videographer, Thomas Lima, in the room, whose video was provided to and can be found on The Anchor’s Web site, www.anchorweb.org.
When Kelly entered the room, he told Lima and Spaulding to leave. Spaulding responded that he did not need to leave until the meeting had entered executive session.
Kelly responded, “The chair can begin their committee’s meeting in executive session according to “Robert’s Rules of Order.”” He added that “Robert’s Rules of Order” supersede the By-Laws of SCG on this matter.
Upon review of the SCG By-Laws, however, this statement was proved to be false. The By-Laws state, in Article 14.7, “Parliament and committee and commission meetings shall be governed by “Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised” in all situations not otherwise provided for in these By-Laws,” the opposite of the treasurer’s assertion.
According to a document explaining Rhode Island’s Open Meetings Laws, “…before a public body can hold a meeting closed to the public, there must be an affirmative vote of the majority of its members to convene in a closed session, by open call.”
When Spaulding pointed this out and refused to leave, Treasurer Kelly asked for a member of Finance to “escort him” out of the room. Finance Member Diamonte Tavolaro then went to the door closest to Spaulding and told him to leave.
Spaulding again replied that he would not leave until the meeting had started and a vote was taken to enter executive session.
In response, Kelly used a fellow Finance member’s cellular phone to call Campus Police to ask them to remove him from the meeting.
When Campus Police arrived, Kelly explained that he was having “a private meeting,” and that he would like the officer to remove the reporters from the chamber.
The officer then asked Spaulding why he refused to leave, to which he replied, “this is a student government meeting and, as such, it cannot begin in executive session, and I’m here to cover the meeting until that happens.”
An unruly debate that included Kelly, Spaulding and several Finance members then ensued over the use of executive session. After several minutes, the Campus Police officer requested that Kelly begin the meeting and then motion for executive session so that the reporters in attendance would leave. A second Campus Police officer, also responding to the call, entered the room at this time.
In response, Kelly began the meeting and the roll was called. Then, a motion was made to enter executive session, according to the advice of the attending Campus Police officer. As soon as the motion was made, Spaulding and Lima left the room.
The entire debate, which took place before the meeting was called to order, drew the attention of attendees at an event across the hall in the Student Union Ballroom. President Nancy Carriuolo was giving her annual State of the College Address to administration, faculty, staff and students, an event that was also covered by Anchor TV via a live, televised broadcast and an Anchor reporter.
The reason stated by the treasurer for entering executive session once the meeting was called to order was “disciplinary actions.”
On the issue of committees taking disciplinary actions, “Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, 10th Edition,” which is the manual that governs SCG meetings, states, “A committee has no power to punish its members for disorder or other improper conduct related to its proceedings…,” leaving Kelly’s reasoning for the commission to enter executive session questionable, as only Parliament has authority in disciplinary matters.
Lima, who said he has taped hundreds of Tiverton School Committee and other government meetings for public access television, said that last Wednesday’s events were a first for him.
“I’ve been taping meetings for six years, and I’ve never seen a committee try to go into executive session like that before,” Lima said. “It was frustrating and disappointing to see student government operate in this manner.”
Lima, younger brother of Speaker of Parliament Nicholas Lima, served on both Parliament and Finance last year.
As the remainder of the meeting was held in executive session, no knowledge of the proceedings is known at this time. The only way the minutes of the meeting can become public is if a majority vote by Parliament is taken to unseal the minutes. A number of Parliament members, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions, have told The Anchor that they will ask for the minutes to be unsealed at this week’s regular meeting, scheduled for March 3 at 7 p.m. in Student Union 307.
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