The Associated Student Government selected an interim Vice President of Finance and Communication at their Board of Directors meeting on Thursday May 23. Vice President of Finance and Communication Elect Leslie Mayo will be taking over the position for the final few weeks of the quarter, until her official term in the position begins on June 24.
Dustin Boehlke vacated the position, which he had held all year, on May 15 by way of a letter of resignation. Boehlke resigned rather than allowed the ASG to take a vote of no confidence against him after a member of the Judicial Board filed a formal complaint to the Chief Justice stating Boehlke broke three bylaws and was incapable of performing his duties. Tensions between himself and ASG Presidnt Takhmina Dzhuraeva were also cited, though denied by Dzhuraeva and ASG Staff Advisor Brandon Lueken.
According to the ASG bylaws section 1.6.8, the Executive Board, which consists of the President, the two Vice Presidents and the Chief Justice, leads the temporary filling of open positions. Since one of the vice president positions was being filled, the ASG President Takhmina Dzhuraeva, VP of Student Affairs and Pluralism Michael Yoon and Chief Justice Kevin Tu made up the Executive Board.
According to Lueken, the process “is actually incredibly simple. If there’s a vacancy, the Executive Board meets [and] they decide who the candidates are. [Then] they recommend a candidate, decide on a candidate—ideally unanimously—[and] they put it forward to the Board of Directors.” After the Board of Directors takes their vote, the candidate, if elected, starts immediately.
Associate Justices Sean Juel and Asami Bandai confirmed that the Board of Directors’ vote to appoint Mayo was unanimous.
“Leslie was the only obvious choice,” said Lueken, citing Mayo’s experience working at the Student Programs front desk. “She already knows a lot of processes and how to handle different requests.” Mayo is also involved with El Centro Latino, the Random Acts of Kindness Club and has participated in events with the Office of Student Legislative Affairs. To help her with her transition, Mayo will be mentored by Lueken and Dzhuraeva, who held the VP of Finance and Communication position from 2011-2012.
Lueken said that Mayo would not be taking over any projects Boehlke had in progress because “Dustin’s large-scale projects were personal to him and his connections. Leslie, being an entirely different person, can’t take over.”
However, Mayo will be taking over all of the duties of the VP of Finance and Communication. “She will be taking funding requests [and] meeting with people about funding requests, which will be nice since it’s the end of the year. Any [request] she gets will be good practice.”
“I feel very excited and privileged to be able to experience the old ASG and the new incoming ASG,” said Mayo. Mayo hopes that working with the old ASG will give her a unique perspective that she can bring to her own term. “I’m super excited. I was really happy when [the decision] was announced.”
