Express file photo Allison Valenzuela

Associated Student Government President Steve Macias has been reinstated in full, following a failed recall attempt and a suspension approved by his fellow ASG members.

More than 600 students voted in the two-day recall election held on Oct. 27 and 28 and more than half voted to remove Macias and ASG Student Affairs Commissioner Monica Guzman from office, according to ASG Vice President Debby Dixon.

The election was declared null and void by City College on Nov. 2, however, due to a violation of an open-meeting law called The Brown Act under California Government Code Section 54954.2 which states:

“The agenda shall specify the time and location of the regular meeting and shall be posted in a location that is freely accessible to members of the public.”

The violation concerned the ASG’s failure to appropriately post the agenda for the special meeting that led to a vote to hold the recall election, ASG Vice President Debby Dixon admitted.

“I messed up the students’ voice,” Dixon said. “I forgot to put the time on the agenda set for the special meeting — just that technicality.”

The same day Macias survived the recall election results he was also suspended and stripped of his duties as president, according to City College Public Information Officer Amanda Hamilton.

“In the absence of his participation as president, the ASG Senate voted to suspend his duties indefinitely so that ASG activities can continue,” Hamilton said.

As quickly as Nov. 5, the suspension of Macias was overruled and he was reinstated in full, according to ASG Commissioner of Public Relations Justin Turner.

“A couple of the members of the ASG have began the process of impeachment,” Turner said. “President Steve Macias has broken constitutional bylaws such as … not being present at meetings, even prior to the recall.”

According to Hamilton, an application form to impeach Macias was submitted to the ASG Judicial Branch on Nov. 2.

As far as Guzman’s position as Student Affairs Commissioner, she has been officially voted out by the ASG board because of unexcused absences, according to Turner.

Guzman is being replaced with former Public Relations Commissioner Richard Martinez, who was nominated and accepted by the board.

“We have no idea where she is,” Turner said. “She had too many unexcused absences before the recall election hit. We just removed her and appointed someone new.”

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SCC file photo Randy Briggs

Associated Student Government President Steve Macias and Student Affairs Commissioner Monica Guzman face a recall election Oct. 27 and 28.

A petition for recall was circulated by the Queer-Straight Alliance about a week after the Genocide Awareness Project held a graphic anti-abortion demonstration on the Quad. Controversial images seen in that Sept. 16 and 17 display included disfigured fetuses alongside lynching and Holocaust imagery and ignited debate across campus.

“The [QSA] group felt like Steve was misrepresenting the GAP group to the student population, and a lot of [QSA] group members felt that it was important that the ASG president follow the correct procedure for inviting groups on campus,” said Ash Pearson, president of the Queer-Straight Alliance.

The initial recall dates were Oct. 19 and 20, but those dates were approved only by the student senate and not the entire ASG board as required by the ASG constitution. The dates were changed to Oct. 27 and 28 and approved by the board in order to meet that requirement, according to ASG adviser Lee Weathers-Miguel.

Associated Student Government Commissioner of Public Relations Justin Turner said the ASG supports the student body’s right to recall.

“The events are unfortunate,” Turner said, “because there are many issues that we would rather be working on, but if the students have spoken then we will make their voice heard.”

ASG members Turner, Dina Kirben and Debby Dixon all expressed the opinion that the agenda description of the GAP display voted on in August by the ASG board for approval was misleading. Dixon stated that when she asked Macias what the event was about, he replied that it would feature nonpartisan speakers on constitutional issues.

According to the Ralph M. Brown Act, which governs the meetings of local legislative bodies, agenda descriptions “must not be misleading.” The Attorney General’s guide to the Brown Act states that the purpose of agendas is “to inform interested members of the public about the subject matter under consideration.”

Macias said he approved the GAP display on the principle of free speech.

“The student government isn’t here to legislate morality,” Macias said. “Allowing different groups to come on to the campus with controversial opinions doesn’t mean we endorse them.”

If Macias and Guzman are recalled, Vice President Debbie Dixon would take over as president.

Macias claims proper procedure for the recall has not been followed. In accordance with the ASG constitution, all petitions for recall must be submitted to the ASG Judicial Branch for signature validation. Macias claims this step was superseded, instead being submitted to and validated by faculty adviser Weathers.

“What do I do if my adviser’s against me?” said Macias. “If he’s the one breaking the rules, where’s my recourse?”

Weathers said that though there were some initial problems with the timing of the recall, he has followed procedure in his handling of the recall petition.

“My role has been to enact the will of student government who represents the student body,” Weathers said. “I just facilitate. I don’t influence or control.”

Weathers said that the recall petitions may not be valid in Guzman’s case, because the original petition did not meet the signature requirement and a subsequent petition did not include Guzman’s name. Her name will be included in the recall election, however.

“She’s pretty much off the board anyway because of her unexcused absences,” Weathers added.

Guzman was not available for comment on this article, but e-mails between Guzman and Macias obtained by the Express reveal that Guzman no longer supports Macias.

“I now see that the only interest you have is your own,” Guzman wrote in an e-mail to Macias where she expressed concern over “the events of Sept. 16 and 17,” the days of the GAP presentation.

“At this time I do not trust you,” Guzman wrote to Macias.

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Macias played an integral part in bringing an anti-abortion group to campus on Constitution Day. The group, which refers to itself as the Sanctity of Human Life Network (or SOHLNet), was billed as the Genocide Awareness Project in ASG documents Macias submitted for approval as a part of the Constitution Day festivities.

Macias is now facing a recall election, to be held Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, orchestrated by students offended by the display and what they deem to be inappropriate behavior from Macias for his role in allowing the anti-abortion display on campus.

In his letter Macias claimed that, unlike the ASG, Health Services endorsed abortion activism by passing out pamphlets from Planned Parenthood at its Constitution Day booth.

“While the health department used taxpayer dollars to support a one-sided abortion agenda, the ASG did not spend a single dime supporting either side,” said Macias.

Ash Pearsol, president of the Queer Straight Alliance and treasurer of the Sac City Freethinkers, disagreed.

“That’s just not true,” Pearsol said. “There was a lot of information out there, but it was the same stuff that’s available in their [Health Services’] office and posted in every womens’ bathroom.”

Both the Sac City Freethinkers and Queer Straight Alliance clubs were a part of the display set up across from the anti-abortion rally along with the Health Services department.

“We’re a student advocate,” said City College nurse Jeff Christian. “It’s not our place to help students make those decisions, just to give them both sides of the issue and let them decide for themselves.”

According to Pearson, the goal of that display was to inform City College students of their choices and the fact that, whichever side of the issue they were on, they had support.

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