Senate postpones staff appointments

Senate President Ricquel Jackson decides to hold off on confirming the graduate senator and traffic court positions until January 2009.

Senator Justin Clarke, 21, a senior healthcare administration student from St. Petersburg, said he felt the proper protocol was not followed for confirmations during Friday before Monday’s meeting.

“Last night it was almost like it was rushed, so Senate President decided to hold off until next semester,” said Senator Justin Clarke, 21, senior, health care administration student from St. Petersburg.

Senator Dex Rho requested that the confirmations be held last night because the appointees were prepared.

“They know their information and I told them it would happen tonight,” Rho said.

Kashif Smiley, 22, a public administration graduate student from Miami is the appointee for Graduate Senator and Riccardo Jean, a junior pre-med/biology student from Jacksonville is appointee for the traffic court.

“Some of the people who voted no were the ones who interviewed me thirty minutes before the senate meeting and they know that I was more than ready to go before the senate last night,” Smiley said. “I feel like there is something else going on and I just want to understand why she would not let us do it.”

Smiley said that the position has been open since October when the previous senator resigned. The new officials studied a significant amount of documents in a short amount of time and feels that both of them were more than ready.

“I submitted a complaint against the senate to the court of how I felt like it was a disservice to everyone and no one even gave us a reason why,” Smiley said.

According to the Student Government Association, right now there is one less graduate senator representing the graduate students since the fall election.

“Why we weren’t confirmed last night is up to senate president to answer,” Smiley said.

Clarke said it is important to make sure the candidates are well qualified.

“We basically are confirming that the appointees are the best person for the position,” Clarke said.

Jean said he wants to fill the traffic court position and do his job.

“I don’t understand what difference it would have made for me to get confirmed now or in the spring,” Jean said.

With the semester ending, Clarke said that Smiley and Jean would not have been able to carry out any duties until the following semester.

During the closing speeches Leon Myles, 19, a Broadcast Journalism student from Ft. Lauderdale, said to Jackson, “If you weren’t following the rules all semester, why start now? Is it because you didn’t feel like it?”

Jackson, 20, a Business Administration and Public Relations student from Tallahassee, was unavailable for a response.