Present: Megan, Ernesto, Anthony, Lexi, Neil, Aparna, Stephen, Kate, Stephen, Chanel
Agenda
Strike- Derek will not be here today(Ernesto)
Motion to approve agenda (Ernesto), second (Anthony)
Aye (6), Nay (2- Stephen and Neil)
Comment: public comment
January 18th minuts approved, February 1 minutes vote on FBA Anthony abstained (Ernesto)
Motion to approve Feb 1 minutes (Ernesto), Second (Lexi)
Aye (6), Nay (0), Abstentions (2- Megan and Neil)
Chanel arrives
Amendment 1
Chairs asked for this addition because they didn’t feel that they had to remain objective with the candidates (Ernesto), this is the language that Jennifer Trotter gave (Ernesto), when saying remaining neutral they mean conflict of interest? (Anthony), I have a little minor concern that someone can read too far into it and say that “shall” not means more than it should (Lexi), They are overseeing every race- take away “in the race they are overseeing” (Neil)
Motion to approve Amendment 1 with strike through (Ernesto), second (Dustin)
Aye (9), Nay (0)
Motion approved
Amendment 2
New stuff is 30% for day student representative signatures or 35 signatures, whichever is less; there was a bit of an issue with write-in candidates so we added a time cut-off for the addition of write-in candidates which is 24 hours now (Ernesto); D was changed to add “whichever is less” but E was not, what’s the reason? (Lexi); the day and evening only get their own classes so they have less of a population to choose from so it made more sense when they said cohorts (Ernesto); what’s the typical election period (Stephen); it’s 4 to 5 weeks beginning from the petitions (Ernesto) but the signage is only about 2 weeks (Ernesto); the 24 hour period seems really short (Stephen); what about switching the language from of the election to start of voting (Ernesto); that seems short still and I’m concerned with people campaigning the whole time and then people who think they are running unappeased are slit out at the last minute (Stephen); I don’t see why that’s a reason because it should be a fair vote no matter when you begin and people will be held to the same standards (Dustin); Could we extend it to 48 hours (Chanel); Under little g, first I it is unclear because “additional restrictions” has been stricken (Neil); We can just strike that language to make it make sense (Ernesto); if it is our intent that people should know who is running can we make an announcement requirement if a write-in candidate has been added (Megan); We can add language to that effect (Ernesto); People might be shady and announce it two minutes before the vote (Neil); we will add “upon verification” (Ernesto)
Motion to approve Amendment 2 (Lexi); second (Aparna)
Aye (9), Nay (0)
Motion approved
Amendment 3
The added line from the Committee is the last two sentences of subsection e because they read it more restrictive than I did and they want people to be able to announce/post on their own and other FB pages (Ernesto); My intent was to eliminate the formal formal but it opens it up to eliminate the freedom of speech issues (Kate); so this situation we don’t really care about groups endorsing candidates (Neil); groups can endorse candidates (Kate); the requirement to post campaign material down towards the double iis towards the end I would like to get rid of that completely (Neil); So there wouldn’t be the requirement that election materials be labeled as such? I’m agnostic towards it because that’s how real campaigns are run (Ernesto); so we can’t regulate people who re-post the campaign materials (Chanel)
Motion to strike I double ii (Neil), second (Anthony)
Aye (9), Nay (0)
Motion approved
The new ii is unclear with the official pages and unofficial pages (Neil); the official pages hae been deleted except for the first year class and the alums, at first we were associated with the McGeorge FB page but now it’s not an official page (Dustin); what’s nice about the McG FB page is that it’s run by the students so there is more freedom (Ernesto); we made sure that it’s open and clear that the school does not endorse it (Dustin); Maybe we can list the appropriate pages that can be posted on (Stephen)
Motion to approve Amendment 3 with the removal of the above subsection (Ernesto), second (Kate)
Aye (9), Nay (0)
Amendment 4
This amendment brings the amount of money allowed to be spent on the campaigns down from $300 to $100 and I’m personally in favor of the less because we are students (Ernesto); if people want to spend $300 they should be able to (Dustin); but on the other side I might vote for someone who has candy, I love people with candy (Kate); but people are going to spend money and they can be creative with $75 (Neil); I’m in favor of $75 (Lexi);
I’m including that into the previous motion (Lexi), second (Ernesto)
You are limiting people’s freedom of speech by $25(Dustin); money dominates the system (Ernesto); we are going to start seeing independent expenditure committees (Stephen)
Aye (5), Nay (4)
Motion approved
Lexi leaves
Amendment 5
Subsection d under 5 switches it to online voting possibilities (Ernesto); in the last part it is overall not per individual but for the whole vote? (Neil); You can only vote if you are added and everyone can only vote once (Ernesto); change the language to say in the event of an election not being able to take place online (Ernesto); can we delete the aspirational language (Dustin); striking warm and fuzzy language (Ernesto)
Motion to approve Amendment 5 with the changes (Ernesto); second (Dustin)
Ayes (8), Nay (0)
Motion approved
Amendment 6
Plurality of votes to me means 50% plus one (Ernesto); what it actually means is when there are more than one or two people running there must be the majority of votes (Neil); subsection d was a request from the elections committee about proxies (Ernesto); if there are only two people running and they tie we will have a runoff between the two again? (Neil); yes (Ernesto)
Motion to approve Amendment 6 (Ernesto), second (Anthony)
Aye (8), Nay (0)
Motion passes
Amendment 7
Elections committee during the elections was having problems answering issues when they were unclear during the elections (Ernesto); mostly it was just people acting like A-holes and that’s not against the elections code (Ernesto); it might be a problem with the student code of conduct (Neil); my only hesitancy is that it’s not the election’s committee responsibility to deal or report that (Ernesto); I think it will exacerbate the situation if it’s given attention in that way but if it’s so serious then it will be an Administration issue and Code of Conduct issue (Kate); part b is unclear when it says “student” (Neil); If the elections committee find a finding to go forward and pursue it then they should be able to look into it with a name to the complaint (Neil); Does this curtail people coming forward with valid complaints because of a fear of retaliation (Kate); you also want to curtail lies (Aparna); this is only for elections committee procedural issues (Stephen); conduct would go towards the Administration and Dean McGuire (Ernesto); this past election when someone made a complaint an email went out to every candidate and it was still anonymous (Chanel); maybe just limit the type of complaint (Ernesto); penalties under subsection c, just to clarify the reasonableness standard is too low a bar to hold people to in regards to controlling third parties (Ernesto); we should add in the last one that the Elections Committee has an affirmative duty to respect anonymity (Dustin); the language could be to specifically protect the person bringing the complaint (Neil/Ernesto); under D4 the consistency should match the former language because the code of conduct is the school’s responsibility (Megan)
Motion to approve Amendment 7 with the changes (Ernesto), second (Dustin)
Aye (8), Nay (0)
Amendment 8
Could we add in the SBA Board in case this needs to be changed during the election period (Stephen); If we pass this we lock ourselves in until after elections (Ernesto); Is it ambiguous as to whom needs to vote (Dustin); we will change it to the entire SBA board then in office to make it more restrictive (Ernesto); just to clarify the Spring semester and the elections committee wanted it to be stated when the petition time opens (Ernesto); the restriction is very narrow and may warrant a bylaw in the future (Ernesto)
Motion to approve Amendment 8 with the additions (Dustin), second (Ernesto)
Aye (8), Nay (0)
Motion passes
Would this violate the public comment period of 48 hours(Neil), no, this has been in the communications since last semester and the public comment applies to our bylaws, not codes (Ernesto)
Funding request: McGeorge Board of Governors (Mirwais Haider)
The funding request, absent the funding request from last semester to go to Boston, this one is for the 14th Circuit Spring meeting; I am the ABA rep and the Lieutenant Governor of Programming so it is important that I go to this meeting; the things that I’ve learned about ABA since becoming the rep makes it important that I go to this; we are meeting with just the 14th Circuit which is Northern California and Nevada; it is Friday and Saturday and the total amount I am requesting is $4…something; our ABA involvement is very important because they have ridiculous amounts of resources and networks (Wais); how have you helped the school with this position so far (Dustin); we met with Dean McGuire and Rebekah to see what needs done (Wais); I wish I could have done more so that we can transfer something to the new rep (Wais); Do we have a new position for first or second years to go to this conference? (Kate); if a Vice Rep could be appointed prior to this conference then we would be able to bring both students next semester (Wais); Do you think that you will lose a lot of opportunity by missing the Friday night thing? (Chanel); I would go to meet people on Friday night and then fly out after the conference on Saturday (Wais); the student governor position could be open to a McGeorge student? (Stephen); no, we missed that deadline (Wais); How many events for the ABA only have we missed or could not afford so that we can plan for future years (Neil); the big one is the one in August that we both went to and this is the mini version of that (Ernesto); my suggestions would be the August one, this one, and there’s the Western Regional in Irvine (Wais); How does this benefit the entire student body (Dustin); I will come back and report to the SBA and just having a McGeorge student being involved in the ABA is important (Wais); How much (Kate); $450 (Ernesto); I’ve considered going to Dean Mootz for the remainder (Wais)
Motion to fund ABA funding (Chanel), I would like to qualify this by saying that he still needs to go to the Dean (Dustin), second (Stephen)
My reservation on it is that it’s Las Vegas and it’s really just sending someone to take notes (Ernesto); this is clearly a conference (Stephen); we just can’t micromanage who does what at the conference (Neil); I think that Mirwais has good intentions and it would be a detriment (Chanel); What has he done so far though (Kate); showing up to these conference is important so that McGeorge’s name can be seen (Stephen); My reservation is that it is in Las Vegas and it is very short notice (Ernesto); I am the most direct representative to the ABA (Ernesto)
Vote on funding of $450 with the qualification that he go to the Dean first to subtract from the total (Chanel), second (Stephen)
Aye (8), Nay (0), Abstentions (0)
Wellness Week funding request (Anha)
Basically it is the fourth annual week and the purpose is to help students obtain balance in their lives; this is my second year on the committee and last year we had a full week involving the entire McGeorge family to take time and focus on their wellness; we will have the fair again and we’ve extended invitations to CSOs to have tables; the week is the second week of March; Monday should not need funding; Tuesday we will have a blood drive; the picnic will need to be funded and we would like to have the rock wall again; Wednesday we have massage envy coming in to do chair massages and we will have yoga as well; we are splitting the times so that evening students can partake as well; on Thursday we will have a comedy night and offer wine and appetizers (Anha); the funding for the massages is …(Chanel); What is the position on heckling (Dustin); What I did do was to put out a request for quotes from gig salad and received a quote for three comedians for $500; I also looked at just an hour show to cut our costs (Anha); the cost is just food and alcohol or for entertainment too (Ernesto); We are about $1300 short (Anha); the massages are not including tips and people don’t have cash on them very often so it might discourage people who might need a massage to not get one (Chanel); we will have sign ups to reserve spots for the massages (Anha); will there also be walk-ins available (Neil); yes(Anha); would you do anything other than the rock wall because last year it was kind of random and kind of expensive (Aparna); in line with that, anyone giving blood can’t participate in the rock wall (Megan); We spoke to the Military Law Society to see if they want to co-sponsor something other than the rock wall (Anha); we also considered a bake-off (Anha); 11 to 4 is a rough time because first years only have an hour to climb if they want to (Chanel)); would it cost more money to add time to the rock wall (Ernesto); there weren’t that many people last year who wanted to climb anyway (Aparna); maybe getting a different activity would help with the budget (Aparna); for the Comedy night the amount of money is including appetizers because alcohol will be served (Anha);
Discussion:
Comedian is such a hit and miss thing for me (Ernesto); Also, it’s a Thursday night (Neil); will this interfere with midterms (Chanel); that’s kind of the point to get people to destress (Ernesto); Rock wall doesn’t sound like a big hit (Anthony); if we cut the comedy night to 30 people it would help (Neil); maybe having a picnic with the rock wall would help (Ernesto); If we cut down the comedy night to 30 people it might help (Kate); we wanted to have it at 8 to be a precursor to bar review (Anha); we could have two or three comedians (Anha); I could speak to Ian (Megan); we just need a decision to increase or not to increase the budget (Ernesto); I forgot to tell you that we need to include the cost of the printing (Anha); we are looking at $1450 increase in funds to fully fund the costs (Ernesto); we just need to keep everything in consideration because ABA is also asking for money (Chanel); Money that’s not really reserved to anything is 6-8000 (Neil); is this about how much you spent last year (Chanel); no, this is more than last year but we are also trying to do more (Ernesto); Getting rid of the rock wall might help (Neil); if only 20 people climbed last year then we don’t have enough of a reason (Aparna); its $1100 for the comedy night so if we take off some for that then some could be chipped in from MLS (Dustin); we can’t rely on MLS to make up the difference (Kate); let’s keep it round and let the committee decide (Ernesto); What is the picnic food (Aparna); if you take down the food then an increase of $850 would be enough (Neil); I just think the 1050 is fair because it will give them an opportunity to get something else if the rock wall is gone (Chanel); I just want to make sure that the comedy night has a backup comedian instead of locking in just one or two in case he isn’t good (Dustin); if you take away the rock wall what would you add (Neil);
Motion to increase the budget by $1050 (Chanel), second (Anthony)
Aye (6), Nay (0), Abstain (Kate and Neil)
Motion to move sections of the ballot to online voting (Ernesto), second (Kate)
Aye (6), Nay (0), Abstentions (2- Neil and Dustin)
Motion to adjourn (Ernesto), second (Anthony)
Aye (6), Nay (0), Abstentions (2- Chanel and Neil)
Ballot item #1
The following text has been proposed to replace Article 8 of our Bylaws
ARTICLE 8
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Section 8.01 Disqualifying Financial Interest. A Board Member must disqualify herself or himself from making, participating in the making of, or attempting to influence any decisions of SBA or an SBA committee if it is reasonably foreseeable that the decision is one in which the Board Member has a material financial interest.
Section 8.02 Disqualifying Non-Financial Interest. Any Board Member must disqualify herself or himself when a personal non-financial interest exists which will prevent the Board Member from applying disinterested skill and undivided loyalty to SBA in making or participating in the making of decisions.
Section 8.03 Procedure of Disqualification. A Board Member required to disqualify himself or herself shall (i) immediately disclose the interest, (ii) refrain from voting or making motions. The Board Member may be counted in determining whether a quorum is present. Section 8.04 Application of Article 8. Any Board Member who is uncertain as to whether Article 8 of these Bylaws applies to them must request a review and vote by the SBA Board. The SBA Board will determine whether Article 8 applies to the Board member in question by a simple majority vote. Board members seeking review may not vote on their own requests for clarification.
Votes 9 in favor, 2 absent votes, 1 vote after the close of ballots – Bylaws are adopted.
Aye- Shoeb Mohammed, Neil Cacali, Kate Casey, S. J. Guichard, L. Howard, Dustin Kirby, Christina D. Godfrey, Aparna Agnihotri, and Chanel Saidi
Nay
Abstain
Absent – Navdeep Singh and Megan Donaghey
Anthony Crisostomo voted in favor but after the 48 hour closing time for votes.
Ballot item #2
ABA Vice Chair Section 5.07 American Bar Association Representative Vice Chair. The ABA Vice Chair shall seek out opportunities to represent McGeorge at a national level within the American Bar Association Law Student Division and serve as the McGeorge ABA Representative during the second academic year of their term. The Vice Chair and ABA Representative shall be considered Representative positions but are not voting members of the SBA Board. The Vice Chair’s duties consist of:
a) Actively seeking out and applying for vacant positions within the Law Student Division circuit that has jurisdiction over McGeorge School of Law.
b) Currently registered as a Second Year Day, Second Year Evening, or Third Year Evening student at McGeorge School of Law.
c) Eligible to serve for two academic years with the first academic year supporting the current ABA Representative and the second year as the ABA Representative.
d) Meet the eligibility requirements of ABA Representation which includes:
i. Good standing at their ABA‐approved law school and not on academic probation or suspension.
ii. Must be a law student during the academic year in which they serve as ABA Representative.
iii. Must be an ABA Law Student Division member in good standing with dues paid in full.
The following would also need to be amended in Article 3 of the bylaws: Section 3.06 Annual Elections. There will be two (2) annual elections each academic year. An election shall be held during the spring semester at such time and place as the Elections Committee may determine. EOs and Representatives shall be elected at this election, with the exception of First Year Day,and Evening Representatives, and American Bar Association Representative Vice Chair. An election shall be held during the fall semester at such time and place, as the Elections Committee may determine. First Year Day,and First Year Evening Representatives, and American Bar Association Representative Vice Chair shall be elected at this election.
Votes – 8 to 0 with 1 abstain. 2 absences and 1 vote after the close of ballots. Bylaw is adopted.
Aye- Neil Cacali, Kate Casey, S. J. Guichard, L. Howard, Dustin Kirby, Christina D. Godfrey, Aparna Agnihotri, and Chanel Saidi
Nay
Abstain-Shoeb Mohammed
Absent – Navdeep Singh and Megan Donaghey
Anthony Crisostomo voted in favor but after the 48 hour closing time for votes.
Ballot item #3
Motion to amend $150 of approved funds to $400 of approved funds for Alumni panel to assist students in preparing for the bar exam. The panel was a proposal by the SBA President to the school during the December break and is open to all students. Funding would cover catering costs of both panels and help increase turnout much in the same fashion as other panels we have fully funded in the past. School funding is dedicated towards the MBE expert and hosting the mock bar exam as well as student work group engagement efforts and is generally scarce at this time. 100% of this funding would go towards food that will be accessible to all students interested in hearing advice from our alumni. Catering will be purchased by the SBA President and reimbursed through the Business office up to the maximum approved amount.
Panel info below:
Bar Passer Panel: Recent Alums Candidly Discuss What it Takes to Pass the Bar Exam
Tuesday, February 24th | Classroom D | 12-1pm or 5:30 – 6:30pm
The SBA President is working with the school to bring some of our recent bar passing alumni back to offer advice to students and answer questions on how they passed the bar exam. This will also be recorded for students to view on the SBA Blog if they can’t make it.
Votes – 4 -3 with 2 abstains and 2 absences and 1 vote after the close of ballots.
Aye- Kate Casey, Lexi Howard, Christina D. Godfrey, Chanel Saidi
Nay- Neil Cacali, Aparna Agnihotri, and Dustin Kirby
Abstain- Shoeb Mohammed and S. J. Guichard
Absent – Navdeep Singh and Megan Donaghey
Anthony Crisostomo voted against but after the 48 hour closing time for votes. The SBA President notes for the record that he would have voted in favor of the motion in order to break a tie resulting in a 5 to 4 vote.
Shoeb Mohammed comments on the record – I don’t see how students will retain much tangible return from this event.
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