By Steven Barker and Esteban Ramirez
News Editor and Sports Editor
As campaigning for Associated Students, Inc. elections began this week, one candidate was still dealing with the aftermath of a potential removal from office.
In an email provided to The Runner, ASI President Derek Stotler presented Ricardo Perez, vice president of external affairs and candidate for ASI president, with a letter of removal from office on April 2. The letter, signed by Stotler, accuses Perez of six offenses: illegal drug possession and use during university-related conferences; excessive tardiness and absences from executive committee meetings; excessive absences from university committee meetings; tardiness at California State Student Association meetings; missing a flight to Washington D.C. for CSU Hill Day; rude and disrespectful behavior to ASI board members, ASI administration and university administration.
Perez’s potential removal resurfaced during an ASI meeting on April 24, when Mercedes Macias, director of legislative affairs, said she heard from CSSA representatives that there were discussions to vote Perez from his office.
Aside from the tardiness charges and missing a flight, which he said was due to a health concern, Perez at first denied allegations of drug use.
“That’s entirely untrue,” Perez said.
He said that ASI’s decision to wait until a month before elections to present him with a removal notice is an attempt to smear his campaign. “
What else can I consider it at this point?” Perez said. “If these issues existed throughout the year, why did they wait until now to try and remove me?”
Mike Kwon and Jennifer Sanchez, ASI executive vice president and vice president of university affairs respectively, both said Perez admitted to the ASI executives that he used marijuana at a school conference. Kwon and Sanchez are candidates in the upcoming election for ASI President and Executive Vice President respectively.
“We talked it over in one of our meetings, and he confirmed that he used some things,” Kwon said, who later said that the substance in question was marijuana. “He stated in front of the five of us that he used a legal amount.”
ASI President Derek Stotler confirmed Perez’s confession but offered no further comment on Perez’s marijuana use.
In a follow-up email, Perez said he uses marijuana for medical purposes.
The five people in question include all of the ASI executives except Stephanie Campos, vice president for programming, who Kwon said was absent.
Sanchez confirmed that Perez’s admission occurred.
In response to tardiness charges, Perez said he has occasionally been late, but he denies that he has been excessively tardy.
According to Sanchez, Perez has been tardy to a number of meetings without communicating he would be late to other executives.
“He has been more than a half hour late to several executive committee meetings,” Sanchez said. “I want to say to almost each one of them at least during winter quarter.”
According ASI’s public meeting minutes from Aug. 18, 2014 to April 17, 2015, Perez has been absent from three meetings, tied for the fifth-most absences among ASI members. Campos; Macias; Jessica Quiñonez, director of general studies; Stacy Dalere, upper-division director, and Stotler have all missed more meetings than Perez.
The minutes do not reflect whether absences were excused.
Only Perez is facing a potential removal from office.
Minutes and agendas for executive and committee meetings were not available.
Perez said in an interview that his colleagues are holding him to a double standard. He said he is being penalized for missing ASI meetings, although his duties as vice president of external affairs require him to represent CSUB at statewide conferences, thus forcing him to occasionally be absent.
“There’s a clear double standard here that I’m being held accountable to that others aren’t,” Perez said. “There are accusations that I was late, and I was missing,” he said. “When I look at minutes from Academic Senate, President Stotler was missing from numerous meetings. How is it that that’s not being held accountable but I am when I miss maybe a meeting – a Search Committee meeting – on campus but I’m doing something ASI-business related?”
Stotler and Kwon rejected Perez’s claim that he is being penalized for his absences as a result of state conferences. Since CSSA and other conference meetings are within Perez’s responsibilities, Kwon and Stotler both said his subsequent absences are being excused.
“Going to CSSA – that’s a university-related travel,” Kwon said. “He’s automatically excused from that.”
“Within the attendance policy, it says very clearly all ASI- or university-related business is counted as excusable. We’ve never held him accountable for missing,” Stotler said.
Stotler added that, because he attends CSSA meetings with Perez, he is absent for the same meetings that Perez misses. He, however, said he has faced no backlash for CSSA-related absences. When asked about Perez’s other alleged instances of excessive tardiness, Kwon and Stotler declined comment.
“We agreed with him that we would keep all tardies and that concern confidential,” Stotler said.
