De Anza Student Government senators delayed hearing an election complaint at its March 11 senate meeting in the Student Council Chambers, despite multiple senators calling for transparency.
Chair of Administration James Nguyen, 19, electrical engineering major, and Election Commissioner Francesca Cacchione, 21, computer engineering and mechanical engineering major have been on administrative leave since March 11, meaning they couldn’t act in any official capacity.
Operations Specialist and Student Activities Coordinator Dennis Shannakian refused to provide the reason behind the removal during the March 11 senate meeting.
“There are some technical issues that we cannot discuss here,” Shannakian said.
Without Cacchione or Nguyen, the four-member administration committee lost its quorum, legally defined as one member more than 50% of the body; without a quorum, it could not legally meet or take action on anything.
The senate removed the other election commissioner, Suyash Jevaria, 19, business administration major, at its DASG Senate’s March 11 meeting.
This leaves Public Policy Liaison Gabe Manglona, 19, political science major, as the committee’s only acting member.
“I was not informed of my entire committee being removed until merely an hour before the senate meeting,” Manglona said. “It is simply unacceptable.”
DASG advisers did not publicly disclose the terms or reasons for Nguyen and Cacchione’s suspensions, but Manglona said the rest of his committee’s removal raises concerns about transparency and due process within the student government.
DASG President Jayven Huang, 19, computer science major, agreed with the advisers’ decision to postpone the appeal presentation.
“I’ve asked ChatGPT and different sites like Google and Reddit,” Huang said. “Regardless of whoever is presenting the meeting, I’m still the facilitator as the chair of the Senate. That’s how I interpret the wording of the Elections Code, and I think it is the right interpretation.”
On March 6, the administration committee found Alissa Lo, 18, cognitive science major, guilty of violating the Elections Code by handing out lollipops with her campaign flyers.
The general senate was originally supposed to hear Lo’s appeal on March 11, which would have allowed DASG to end its executive elections.
Lo said she complained to friends and senators over the mistreatments she received from Nguyen and Cacchione and her frustration over the appeal process, and that she thinks her complaints contributed to Nguyen and Cacchione’s administrative leave.
“It (clarity and structure in the process) would have helped me and made me feel more secure during that complaint meeting on March 6,” said Lo. “Whatever happens happens,”
However, Lo also said she wished the best for Nguyen and Cacchione.
“I’m sure the action that was taken was taken by responsible authorities,” Lo said. “They took the action that they thought was necessary.”
Nguyen and Cacchione did not comment.
However, Manglona said Faculty Director of College Life Hyon Chu Yi-Baker told him that Nguyen and Cacchione are free to say whatever they want, in a March 13 phone call.
Manglona also said Yi-Baker asked him to give the advisers time to process the situation.
The advisers’ handling of Lo’s case prompted senators to question their role in student government processes, particularly in election-related disputes, on top of transparency issues.
“We want information. We want transparency,” Budget Analyst Jacob Kao, 26, data science major, said at the senate’s March 11 meeting. “It’s not a matter of trust or not. We need to know what’s going on.”
“To the advisers, I don’t think this is a lack of trust,” Ethan Brignetti, 21, biology major, said at the senate’s March 11 meeting. “This is us doing our due diligence.”
Manglona brought Lo’s appeal to the senate at its Election Certification and Complaint Decision Appeal Meeting on March 18 at 4 p.m.
Senators certified the executive officer election results by the end of that meeting.
Editor’s Note, March 24 5:10 p.m.: A previous version of the stories headline may have been misleading to some readers. The headline has been changed for accuracy.
Editor’s Note, March 20, 1 a.m.: A previous version of the story contained inaccurate information and was removed. The information has since been corrected and the story has since been restored.
Editor’s Note, March 20, 2:30 p.m.: A previous version of the story misattributed the two senators’ removal to DASG advisers. Advisers do not have the authority to place students on administrative leave. This has since been corrected.
