Infographic by Carolyn Burt
Infographic by Carolyn Burt
On Friday, April 2, election results for the 2021 Associated Students (A.S.) were posted onto the A.S. Election page of the Santa Monica College website. A total of 435 students voted, resulting in an 11% decrease in voter turnout from the 2020 A.S. Election. The elected candidates will serve on A.S. for the 2021-2022 academic school year.
This year marked the first year A.S. candidates ran their campaign entirely online. In 2020 the election saw a 79% drop in voter turnout from the previous year as the total votes went from 2,327 in 2019 to 490 students in 2020.
The final election results are below:
A.S. President
Joshua Elizondo (350 votes)
A.S. Vice President
No Candidate
A.S. Secretary
Anzhi (Felix) Wei (359 votes)
A.S. Director of Budget Management
David Cho (343 votes)
A.S. Director of Student Assistance
Jeanine Grimes (258 votes)
Slate: Empower. Our. Future
A.S. Director of Instructional Support
No Candidate
A.S. Director of Student Outreach
Melissa Martinez (194 votes)
A.S. Director of Equity & Diversity
No Candidate
A.S. Director of Student Advocacy
Kamiko Greenwood (223 votes)
A.S. Director of Activities
Julianna De Paula (169 votes)
A.S. Director of Publicity
Miguel Jimenez (133 votes)
A.S. Director of Sustainability
Alexandra Schoch (190 votes)
Student Trustee
Ali Shirvani (339 votes)
Tensions were high as board members and students alike expressed their opinions on the controversial decision made at last Monday's board meeting on April 30. Students used the public comments section to express unhappiness at the decision.
Following SMC students' reactions towards the Associated Students board's decision to vote against funding agenda item 6.3, the proposed $8,917.19 for catering SMC's graduation reception, A.S. President Jennifer Chen reached out to The Corsair to voice her disapproval over what occurred during the board meeting last Monday, April 23.
The Cayton Center Lounge was packed with students on Monday, April 23, when the Associated Students Board of Directors met for their weekly board meeting. Most items on the agenda passed; however, a request for catering for this year’s Graduation Reception was denied in a vote of 6 to 5.
Members of the Santa Monica College Associated Students board were joking amongst themselves and the atmosphere was jovial as the board met in their Cayton Center conference room after classes resumed after spring break.
This is a response to Francisco Munoz’s Op-ed, “Associated Students? More like Isolated Students.”
As a preface, let me make it clear that I thought it was a well-written and thoughtful article, but I feel compelled to respond to (and elaborate on) a couple of points that I find to be particularly important. For the sake of clear organization, I will copy and paste three central paragraphs from Mr. Munoz’s article before I write my response to them. Let us examine the following passage:
After two weeks of furious campaigning, fraught with controversy and scandal, the 2018 Associated Students election has come to an end. The slate "Step Forward" performed excellently, winning seven of the eight seats in which they ran a candidate, most of which were contested.
As elections begin, confusion, apathy, and lack of knowledge appear to bring low voter turnout this semester. When a reporter asked on Monday, April 3, the first day of elections week, what efforts the Associated Students (A.S.) board had made to promote and educate students about…
Two days into the Associated Students election, Santa Monica College’s election committee gathered in the Cayton Center’s conference room. Three violations were discussed, one of which resulted in one A.S. candidate being reported to the campus disciplinarian for allegations of a threat.
Approximately 100 students and Santa Monica College staff members gathered on the college’s quad this Tuesday, April 3 on the main campus to listen to what candidates running for SMC's student government, the Associated Students (A.S.) Board of Directors, had to say.
Santa Monica College Police Chief Johnnie Adams asked the Associated Students board of directors for $20,000 of the $28,000 price for another year's subscription to the security app, LiveSafe, at their Monday meeting on May 7. The school's administration has already provided the remaining $8,000.