By Laura Lothian, On-line Forty-Niner
April 14, 1997
Alvaro Castillo got more votes in last week's election than any other candidate, yet he does not get to serve in the post he won.
Castillo received 1,250 votes in his quest to become the student representative for the Forty-Niner Shops Inc. - 103 more votes than Naomi Rodriguez collected in her successful bid for president.
But due to poor communication between the Shops and the elections commission, Castillo was not notified until after the polls closed that his post had already been filled the year before.
The Forty-Niner student representative position is a two-year post, unlike Associated Students Inc. positions, which expire after one year.
The current student representative, elected last year, will remain in her post through next year.
"You never know when the Forty-Niner position is available," said Dr. Stuart Farber, director of student life and development. "Even though it is a two-year post, students graduate or some just opt to serve one year."
When questioned who was responsible for informing candidates about the status of that position, Farber responded, "How are we suppose to know if that position is open, no one realized that the Forty-Niner was out of sync with ASI."
Castillo said the elections commission had six weeks to tell him not to bother running. Instead, he charged in a formal complaint, the commission acted with gross negligence in that it advertised and publicized the Forty-Niner position, accepted his application, then confirmed it.
Farber admitted that dialogue between the Shops and ASI needs improvement.
"In the future, we need to make sure if the person is coming back or not," he said. "We need to shore up communications."
Castillo said he was not too upset when he received the news that his run for office had been in vain.
"Because I was unopposed, all I did was the paperwork," Castillo said. "If someone else was running, then I would have tried a lot harder."
Castillo said that he is really disturbed by the way the election was handled.
"The whole election process was unfair," he said. "I'm not just talking about me, but for the other candidates as well."
Castillo accused Elections Commissioner Chris Sanco of bias.
He said that Sanco, who served his second term as commissioner, allowed two candidates to place advertisement material in the elections platform binders.
"The election codes clearly states that candidates are allowed a maximum of 200 words," Castillo said. "Freeman and Coleman put their flyers in, no one has ever done that before. It gave them an unfair advantage over all of the other candidates."
Sanco said the two candidates showed initiative.
"I call it ingenuity," Sanco said, "just because he didn't do it, he's calling it unfair."
Sanco said that Castillo is angry about the Forty-Niner representative issue and has a personal agenda in his criticisms of Sanco and the elections commission.
"He's obviously pushing for another candidate he's not naming."
Castillo said he has no other motive than his desire to "clean things up."
Castillo interpreted the election codes as strict rules that allow only words, up to 200, in the binder. Sanco interpreted the election codes as rules that allow anything, as long as the words included stay less than 200.
"Two hundred and one words, I cut you," Sanco said. "The codes say nothing against having a picture. Any candidate who wanted to include a picture or flyer, I'd say OK. I did not show anybody favoritism."
Farber sided with Sanco.
"The codes make no mention of disallowing pictures," Farber said. "It only states to stay under 200 words. Sanco's right."
The value of the flyers in the binders is undeniable, according to Castillo.
"Look who won," he said. "Freeman and Coleman, the two guys with the pictures."