By Soleil de Zwart and Erasmus Baxter
The Associated Students Board of Directors voted to begin a recall of Genaro Meza-Roa, AS VP for business and operations, at their meeting today, by a margin of six to one.
In a prepared statement from the rest of the board, AS President Millka Solomon apologized for not taking action sooner.
“Collectively, we wanted to learn and work on how to resolve conflict and work together and improve as a Board of Directors,” she said. “While we believe that growth and change are important it is not our belief that Mr. Meza-Roa should continue to take this salaried position where his ability to serve students should be already present, as a time to develop those skills. We hope he learns these skills and grows in a different capacity.”
In the statement, they also detailed other examples of issues they’d had with Meza-Roa.
Meza-Roa will now face a recall election, in which he has said he plans to make his case to students.
“I stand for the silenced minority, who say to me ‘Why would you ever join the AS?’” Meza-Roa said.
He said he has not always met the requirements of the job, but has improved through the year.
The impeachment comes after the student senate unanimously voted to recommend impeachment at their meeting on Monday, Jan. 14.
The senate made their recommendation after the AS Review reported that the AS board had gone in to executive session to discuss complaints about Meza-Roa’s conduct, and outlined several issues that had arisen involving him.
Senators also heard from Dayjha McMillan, a Fairhaven senator, who said they received an email from a student who said they sought a no-contact order concerning Meza-Roa, and from board members who said Meza-Roa had not been meeting his job requirements.
At-large senators Courtney Yoshiyama, Adah Barenburg and Nicole Ballard had no comment.
In a later interview, Meza-Roa defended his actions and said he believed the recommendation for impeachment was a personal vendetta against him by several people within the AS, not out of professional concern.
He reiterated these comments at the board meeting, saying he was standing up for students who didn’t agree with, what he called, the dominant ideology of the AS.
Speaking to the board, Meza-Roa called the accusations baseless, false and taken out of context.
“I care about this university and I care about the students. And I don’t think going away in shame is the way to do that,” Meza-Roa said.
He said, he won’t willingly resign because that would be a sign of defeat.
Levi Eckman, AS VP for academic affairs and interim senate pro-tempore, read a statement from senators on their decision to recommend impeachment. He also shared statements from six AS employees Meza-Roa oversees and works with, who detailed examples of Meza-Roa not fulfilling his job responsibilities.
Now, the AS must hold a recall election in no sooner than two weeks and no later than three weeks, according to the AS bylaws. If the majority of students in the election vote to recall, the position will then be vacant.
If the position becomes vacant, the board will then have to hold a filing period of at least 10 days for potential applicants and a special election will then be held to fill the position.