Delgado to be Trustee-Elect, representation fee fails in election

Eight of the nine candidates running for student government offices were elected and a proposed student representation fee failed in last week's Spring 2010 elections held on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2.

A total of 223 ballots were cast, an increase from recent semesters.

Current ASCC senator Alejandra Delgado defeated current ASCC president Karlyn Bradley 118 to 82 to become the next student-trustee elect.

Stefano Saltalamacchia, former ASCC president and current senator-at-large in the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, ran unopposed and was elected ASCC vice-president, receiving 185 votes.

All seven candidates for senator positions exceeded the minimum of 50 votes needed to be elected: Tamara Dubuni, 139; Ruben Haro, 119; Christopher Saenz, 100; James Schaaf, 96; Eric Sanzon, 91; and Leonel Marroquin, 83.

Delgado, new trustee-elect was very glad to have been elected to her position.

"I sincerely, honestly, really wanted this for the students, not for myself," said Delgado. "I'm willing to take on this responsibility and learn what I have to so I can be good at it."

She said that many students do not have the opportunity to serve in student government due to time constraints or lack of support, and is grateful that she does have the support she needs to succeed.

Delgado's goals include working closely with the Health Center to improve its services for students, but knows that she will have to learn what her possibilities are before she can embark on any initiatives.

"I have to start making that list and finding out what's plausible, not just come up with random things that are not going to happen," Delgado said.

Saltalamacchia, former ASCC president and newly elected vice president, simply needed a majority vote to be elected to his position. But seeing as he was the only candidate running for that office, a single vote made it official.

Despite this, Saltalamacchia received votes from 83 percent of those who voted—a total of 185. "I don't take pride in that number," Saltalamacchia said. "I would take pride if there was more turnout for candidates. There should always be more people running."

Saltalamacchia said during his campaign that he decided to run for vice president because no one else was and the students need a vice president.

One of his plans for next semester is to raise awareness about domestic violence and homelessness among students and to do some fundraising connected with those issues.

Haro, who got the second highest amount of votes among elected senators with 119, was pleased to get as many votes as he did.

Part of his campaigning consisted of printing out 240 fliers to hand out to students on campus.

"I figured if I can get at least a 50 percent return, then that would be pretty good. It amounts up just to that, 50 percent," Haro said.

The first thing he wants to focus on is making it possible for students at Citrus to take part in the construction projects on campus.

"Whether they're going to be a business major, or a finance major, whether they're in engineering, architecture—regardless of whatever their major is—if they can get some work experience here, right now, with this construction that's going on around campus, I say we should totally go for it because in order to be more competitive in trying to get to a university they have to have some experience," Haro said.

Also on the ballot was the proposed student representation fee, which would charge students an additional $1 to fund efforts or trips made in order to better represent the student body in state and local realms.

The proposal needed a two-thirds vote to pass but only received 106 yes votes, with 97 no's and 19 no-votes. So despite receiving more yes votes than no's, the proposal failed to pass.

Bradley said that the idea for the rep fee originated during Saltalamacchia's semester as ASCC president, and that it is something that he continued to advocate during his time as president.

"It's for [the students], realistically, it has nothing to do with us," said Bradley. "It really is a fee that we collect for the students so then they can represent themselves. We don't always have to represent them, they can be a part of advocating for their education."

The money generated from this fee could be close to $20,000 a semester, according to ASCC adviser Adrienne Thompson.

Along with paying for representation trips, the money could also be used to train student government officers.

"The student rep fee is a really big deal," said Saltalamacchia. "[Students] get informed that their fee is going to be raised $1 and they get a little scared, but they don't understand what that $1 is going to do for their voice at a state level, at a community level, and it's definitely important. Having a seat at the political roundtable is important for California Community College students."

Delgado says she hopes students will support the fee in the future.

"I didn't fail as far as people really disagreed with it and didn't vote for it, because there was plenty of people who did," said Delgado. "I hope we can get that implemented because I would love to see more money that is strictly just for the purposes of advocacy."

Delgado said that this money would differ from existing ASCC funds because it would more along the lines of district money that is set aside for ASCC to use for student representation.

She added that the student body is not aware that other colleges have had to help pay for some of the expenses ASCC has needed to represent students in the past, such as the March in March rally in Sacramento last spring when Citrus College students had to share a bus with students from Rio Hondo College in Whittier in order to make the trip.