Jason Harward co-editor-in-chief
Two new amendments to the Associated Student Body (ASB) Constitution were approved Wednesday, Nov. 29. The first reduces the number of elected officials per class from five to four, while the second changes commissioner positions from year-long to semester-long.
Commissioner positions, which are currently selected by blind application at the beginning of each year, will now be re-selected at the semester, which now opens more positions in ASB to new students at the beginning of second semester.
Student board member Jonathan Artal believes reducing the number of elected officials will promote more competition and accountability in elections, two goals Highlights enumerated in the November editorial.
“Every year, we see too many candidates run unopposed in ASB elections,” Artal said. “Because those running often have little competition, they rarely have motivation to brainstorm solutions, reach out to peers or run on the strength of their ideas.”
Although these motivation concerns are almost impossible to completely verify, former ASB advisor and current principal Mark Mead remembers his class discussing similar ideas to improve elections.
According to Head Row Vice President Ryan Abrishami, re-evaluating commissioners at the semester can allow them to be more efficient and remove any students not meeting their duties.
“We wanted to change the structure of the class and change the efficiency of people in the class,” Abrishami said. “If it’s a more selective process head row [can give] commissioners outlined duties of exactly what they’re supposed to do.”
Both Artal and Abrishami agree the end goal is always to improve how ASB represents the student body.
“In the end, we want to improve efficiency and accountability in student government and ensure we can best represent the student voice,” Artal said.
The changes will take effect at the start of the 2018-19 school year.
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