Members of last semester's Reform Our Campus party began acquiring signatures on Wednesday for a petition that would pressure Student Association officials to finally make a ruling on charges of bribery and slander filed six months ago.
Spearheaded by Matt Pelkey, the petition calls for SA to settle the charges with its Election and Credentials committee, and then take the case to the Student-wide Judiciary.
If SA does not act quickly, the petition threatens to begin the impeachment process for the entire Elevation '05 party, which includes now-President Dela Yador, Vice President Sonia Kang and Treasurer Mazin Kased.
"What we're going to argue is that number one, obviously the complaints that we filed are valid and the SA is intentionally not dealing with these," Pelkey said. "Or if it's not intentional, then it's incompetence, and it's just as bad."
All the charges revolve around last spring's SA election and a taped conversation in which Kased offered Francisco Baiocchi a job with SA if he were to drop from the election and turn on his fellow party members.
Baiocchi, along with Pelkey and Elizabeth Salzman, was running at the time for SUNY SA delegate. After the election, a ruling on the charges and counter-charges was never made. Joe Varghese, former chair of the E&C committee, said he would decide on the case before the summer, but did not do so before graduating and leaving UB.
Yador said the case is now in the hands of the new E&C chair, Avneet Jacob. As for Pelkey, Yador said he has no hard feelings.
"I truly 110 percent respect that he has the right to do whatever he feels is necessary to get it done," Yador said. "I wish him luck on that."
Yador said his administration is too busy between classes and SA work right now to worry about the consequences of the petition. Two weeks ago, Kased said he hasn't kept tabs on the issue.
"I don't ask, I don't care, because I know I did nothing wrong," Kased told The Spectrum in an Aug. 31 article.
"If it's going to continue on, long or short, I always know I was innocent, so it doesn't really matter to me," he added.
Bill Sherlock, chief justice of the Student-wide Judiciary, said at this point he hasn't been formally approached about handling the bribery case, and he will deal with it if and when it comes to him.
According to Pelkey, that will happen one way or another. If the E&C committee makes an overdue decision, he will appeal to the Student-wide Judiciary. If the committee fails to act, he will start the impeachment process directly with the judiciary.
"We're trying to send a message here," Pelkey said. "We want to show that an overwhelming part of the student body is not only opposed to these actions, or lack thereof, but are disgusted with it."
With the help of Baiocchi, Salzman and others, Pelkey said he is aiming for 4,000 signatures. For impeachment, the SA Constitution requires either 2,000 signatures or the same number of voters in the election, he said, but there is a greater point to be made.
Only 1,577 out of nearly 18,000 undergraduates voted in last spring's election.
"I understand that apathy is a big deal on this campus, but this is something we're trying to change," Pelkey said. "This is what happens when less than 10 percent of our student body chooses not to be involved in student government."
In two days of limited petitioning, Pelkey said he has 150 signatures and no student has declined to sign.
Pelkey said he understands that at this point there are probably many students who think he should just let it go, but no one should be off the hook for committing a crime, despite how small.
"I just want it to be a fair trial and a fair judgment," he said.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
