Raymond Baccari
News Editor
Student Community Government is the core of student life but is also lacking in students. The majority of last week’s SCG meeting was dedicated to the special election for electing a new Speaker and Secretary. The special elections from SCG will keep happening until students join RIC’s parliament.
SCG’s Speaker position was open as a result of then-Speaker Matthew Thureson resigning to run for Vice President. The Secretary position was resigned by Christal Figuereo in hopes of her winning the special election for Treasurer. Figuereo lost her write-in candidacy to then-Parliament Representative Fathia Obabiyi, triggering the special election for Secretary. Figuereo was the only declared candidate for Secretary and as expected, won back her old position.
The Speaker election saw Former Treasurer Asley Corrales run as write-in candidate.
“As Speaker, I do wish to ensure the proper procedure for the conduct of how meetings should be run. And stand as chair for the bylaws adjudication, and I’m really excited if you guys will give me the opportunity to be able to do that. I’m already included in a couple of organizations on campus like AMA and LASO. So I definitely would like to give my skills to the [Parliament],” Corrales said in her pre-election remarks.
Corrales won by default with no other candidates running on the ballot or via a write-in candidacy. She had to resign from her role as Treasurer in Nov. after not being enrolled in RIC classes. The Anchor asked if Corrales re-enrolled in classes and followed proper channels to regain eligibility. SCG’s Administrative Supervisor and Lead Accountant, Dianna Costa explained that Corrales did re-enroll in classes and “followed the proper processes to gain her election win.”
No election for Deputy Speaker was held due to no candidates declaring or running a write-in candidacy, so that election is to be determined.
President Patel announced an upcoming event she is hosting with SCG called “Holi” also known as “The Festival of Colors.” It will be hosted in April.
The meeting itself being heavily focused on filling empty positions brought up concerns of the current state of SCG. Several members didn’t show up, causing a delayed start to the meeting. There are very little to no events or ways of improving student life brought up in meetings with a few exceptions. SCG is in the rebuilding process where they need students to join the parliament and eventually move up to the Executive Board.
Constant special elections, members not showing up to the meetings and lack of vision prompted The Anchor to ask Patel why things are the way they are and how she is trying to change that as President.
Patel did not provide a response to The Anchor.