Government Oversight Committee Meeting
Chair: Vaughn Sayers
February 29th, 2016
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM in the John E. Sapp
I.
Call to Order
a.
II.
Meeting called to order at 6:03 PM.
Roll Call – Vice Chair Sorrentino
a.
Quorum has been established with 7 voting members. Sorrentino, Brown,
Gislason, Feghali, Dowdie, Saathoff, Chance, Lee.
III.
Approval of Minutes – February 15th, 2016
a.
Senator Saathoff: Motion to approve the minutes from February 15, 2016.
Second. Moved.
IV.
Approval of Agenda
a.
Senator Saathoff: Motion to approve tonight’s agenda. Second. Moved.
V.
Student Remarks
VI.
Guest Speakers
a. President Guerra
i.
Gave a presentation on the role of Student Body President.
VII. Remarks of the Chair
VIII. Unfinished Business
IX.
New Business
a.
Title XIII Revisions
i.
The Vacancy Solution
1.
Chairman Sayers: Tonight we will discuss the Vacancy Solution.
Originally this bill was an SB, but it is now an OB because it
deals with both Title IV and Title XIII. Our committee could be a
conflict of interest if it is longer than a semester because we
have close ties with Title VI and the reconfirmation of the
Elections Commissioner. The Government Oversight Committee
Chairman will now be elected in both the Fall and the Spring,
making it a semester long position instead of a year long. Next,
in Title XIII we needed to distinguish the difference between
“appointee” and “candidate” since the two words were being
interchanged. Furthermore, to improve our Senator selection
process, instead of having applications that are first come first
serve, our committee will go through and interview the pool of
candidates and pick the best ones. Whichever candidates we
choose must pass through our committee with majority vote to
be forwarded to the Senate. If a candidate is denied by the
Senate, the candidate must repeat the appointment process to
be reconsidered. We could then go through the process again
until we fill our vacant seats with acceptable candidates. This
strengthens our role as a committee to go through and pick the
most qualified candidates.
2.
Senator Sorrentino: Would we interview multiple candidates in
one meeting? Chairman Sayers: Yes, we would interview each
candidates and then make decisions from there.
3.
Senator Chance: If someone gets denied by the Senate, we
would just go back to our pool of candidates and interview
them? Chairman Sayers: Yes.
4.
Senator Dowdie: Why is only one semester necessary for the
Government Oversight Committee Chairman? Attorney General
Baker: Due to the conflict of interest, the role of this chairman
does reconfirm the Elections Commissioner and if they are
running in elections again, they have a lot of influence and it is
unfair. If a student wants to get involved in Student
Government and has never done so before, we want to make it
as fair as possible for everyone.
5.
Senator Lee: What if there are an equal number of votes from
our committee for a candidate? Chairman Sayers: It would be
voted by majority.
6.
Senator Dowdie: Motion to change the title from “SB” to “OB”
Second. Moved.
7.
Senator Dowdie: Motion to approve the bill. Second.
a.
Discussion: Senator Saathoff: I think this is a great idea
and our candidates will still have to go through the
Senate.
b.
Senator Gislason: This improves transparency and will
make the vetting process much better.
c.
Senator Sorrentino: Motion for unanimous consent.
Second. Moved.
X.
Announcements
a.
Chairman Sayers: I encourage all of you, if you have any ideas on legislation,
please come talk to me. Thank you all for your help, you’ve all done a great
job tonight.
XI.
Final Roll Call – Vice Chair Sorrentino
a.
Quorum has been restablished with 7 voting members. Sorrentino, Brown,
Gislason, Feghali, Dowdie, Saathoff, Chance, Lee.
XII. Adjournment
a.
Meeting adjourned at 6:37 PM.
Minutes taken by Sabrina Sorrentino, Vice-Chair.