Former
justice files against Vivian
By Joyce Kelly
On-line Forty-Niner
The
office of the Associated Students Inc. Judiciary
at Cal State Long Beach heard two petitions
regarding A.S.I. appointments that were
filed by Edward Ober, former chief justice
and political science major, l p.m. Monday.
One
petition, ASJ File No. 610, questioned whether
Danny Vivian, the A.S.I. president, had
authority to appoint various positions in
student government. The concerns were questions
of whether his appointments fall under conflict
of interest.
Rita
Pearce, the newly installed clerk, read
the petitions.
“She
was just appointed to the position as the
new clerk,” Sam Lingrosso, assistant director
of Judicial Affairs, said.
Associate
Justice Anastasia Benzel, who was designated
by the newly appointed Chief Justice, Luis
Pena, heard the petitions.
Ober
had applied for the position of chief justice
and was denied the appointment by Vivian.
Pena received the appointment, and declined
to preside over the hearings.
Vivian
did not appear at the hearing. He said he
was within the by-laws with his decision
to appoint Pena as chief justice.
“I
acted in complete compliance with the by-laws,”
Vivian said. “[Ober] applied for the position
and didn’t get it.”
Vivian
said he called Ober to tell him of the results
and his decision, but he did not receive
a response from him.
“I
called and notified him of not getting the
position, and he never called me back,”
Vivian said.
The
second hearing, ASJ File No. 609, was the
first to be heard. This petition concerned
the timeliness and process for fulfillment
of appointed positions of students to the
empty seats in various positions. Ober was
concerned with the manner in which the positions
were filled and if they were filled in a
manner that was adhering to the by-laws.
In
his petition, Ober mentioned that Vivian
failed to make any appointments over the
summer, although he assumed the office of
president and his executive members worked.
Ober
questioned the logic of the by-laws Chapter
2, Article 1, Section 9(a) as reinforced
and applied to the vice presidency in ASJ
608 would dictate that the president should
fulfill all appointments within 30 days
of assuming office.
He
was also concerned with the idea that the
positions would be appointed to friends
who would be friends to members of fraternities.
He asked if there were a preference or should
there be a preference to a former justice.
The
justices noted that they were in deliberation,
and would post their notice.
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