The votes are tallied for SRJC’s Associated Students elections and the student center fee referendum, and the winning candidates are excited to tackle the coming challenges that face the school.
The members of SRJC Students United won all of the positions that they were running for, and Jordan DeVito of The Justice League was elected A.S. Vice President of the Santa Rosa campus. Jessica Jones, elected Associated Students President, was pleased with the dramatic increase in voter turnout from last year.
“It’s the largest voter turnout since 1967. Last year our voter turnout was about 1,800 [votes] so definitely a dramatic increase because we had over 2,800 votes,” Jones said.
The proposed student center fee referendum, however, did not achieve the necessary votes to go into effect.
“Having a referendum with the student election didn’t turn out as well as we had hoped,” Jones said. “There was a lot of confusion. Some people would vote for one thing and not the other. The advertising also wasn’t very clear online as it could have been.”
Despite the inability to pass the referendum, the elected students feel confident they have a cohesive group with the common goal of benefiting students and providing them with a voice.
Michelle Dowling, elected A.S. Vice President of Advocacy, looks forward to working with her constituents and getting better acquainted in the coming semesters.
“It’s exciting just to have fresh energy and people with really good ideas. It seems like everyone is a team player,” Dowling said. “We have our retreat in July where we all get together, get to know each other better and start planning for the next year.”
Kory Kevin Ryan was elected A.S. Executive Vice President with 2,625 votes, the highest among all running candidates. Mark Goitom, elected A.S. Student Trustee, had the second most with 2,544 votes.
Members of the new student government suggested the idea of creating an internship program for students to learn about the Associated Student Senate before actually being appointed.
“I think it will be really helpful,” Dowling said. “A lot of times you have a team of senators and someone drops off or graduates, and then someone new is brought in and they have no idea where to begin and by the time the year’s over they haven’t accomplished nearly as much as they could have.”
The newly appointed senators take office after this year’s graduation, the official beginning of their terms. However, the group is already planning for the next course of action in the coming semesters.
“Everybody is just saying ‘OK, what’s the next step now?’ And now it’s time to come up with the game plan,” Jones said.
The first summit meeting for the Associated Student Senate will take place June 13 in the Student Senate chambers, where the team will begin to work on solutions for what is sure to be a challenging year for SRJC.