Florida State University (FSU) is lucky enough to have all three branches of government on campus: executive, judicial, and legislative. Today I’ll be focusing on the judicial branch and the legislative branch; FSU’s Supreme Court and FSU’s Student Senate.
There are a total of 80 senators, each representing one of FSU’s 20 divisions. Cole Kariher is a Student Senator for seat two of the FSU College of Music. With the help of his council (Andrea Alvarez and Rawan Abhari), Cole recently filed a complaint against the Director of the Office of Governmental Affairs (OGA), Jason Puwalski, within FSU’s Supreme Court. I was fortunate enough to be able to ask Kariher and his council about their experiences doing so.
Her Campus (HC): Why did you feel as if it was your responsibility to file a complaint against Jason Puwalski?
Cole Kariher (CK): As the Senate Chairperson of the Judiciary Committee and liaison to the Pride Student Union, I felt that I had to file the complaint against the OGA Director. In February, we received the Legislative Agenda, and after reviewing it with Senators and the Pride Student Union Board, it was very apparent that it was not the voice of our Student Body. All previous Legislative Agendas prioritize social issues and bills on higher education. Senators and Board members made reports to me that the Director of OGA told them the original agenda will be lobbied on FSU day, regardless of amendments Senators made on the floor — and that he didn’t want Senate to supposedly ruin it. Certain Board members reported that progressive legislation and ideas were shot down and dismissed throughout the process, and they were not allowed to vote. This could not be verified because there were no minutes posted which is in violation of the Florida Sunshine Law. Ultimately, I filed the complaint because I felt the Director did our Student Body a great disservice.
Rawan Abhari (RA): Due to my various involvements within SGA (Council for Surge, Supervisor of Elections, and Former Executive Director of OGA), I have had a lot of experience navigating statutes (statutes are the rules by which SGA must abide). In addition, I had key knowledge of what Jason’s role was supposed to be because I was his predecessor. Jason was my Internal Assistant Director when I was Executive Director of OGA. Because of these two things, I felt I had the best idea of how and what to file a complaint on.
HC: Can you give a brief explanation of how the FSU Supreme Court works?
RA: The Supreme Court is made up of third-year law students. They are active all year round and anyone can file lawsuits with them and seek advisory opinions.
HC: What is the responsibility of the OGA Board of Directors and how do you feel this responsibility has not been met?
CK: In statutes, OGA is required to meet twice a month and a report of that meeting is made during Senate announcements. Only one announcement has been made to the 75th Senate and he repeatedly refused to meet with the OGA Senate liaison. Statutes require the Board to survey a diverse population of students to gain insight into concerns relevant to the mission of the office; at the time of the proposed Legislative Agenda, this had not been done. Statutes also require OGA to have an Agency Advisory Council that meets once a month. Not only did this Council not meet, but OGA actively voted against the will of our agencies throughout the process and against an amendment to lobby against HB 999. OGA received a budget of $14,780 from Senate, and part of receiving this money comes with the responsibility of following our statutes and representing the Student Body — neither of which was happening.
RA: In addition, OGA is in charge of passing a “Legislative Agenda” (with Senate approval) which essentially is everything OGA is allowed to lobby for.
HC: Why is it important that meeting minutes and public comment, things that most think are trivial, be held and posted correctly?
CK: The Florida Sunshine Law requires that meeting minutes be posted; Additionally, the law entails that public comments must be allowed at the beginning of meetings. This law is important because it allows public officials to be held accountable. When meeting minutes are accurate and detailed, the public has the opportunity to read exactly how decisions are made. Since vague minutes were taken, there were no paper records of deliberations on the legislative agenda.
RA: It is important to emphasize as well that if the small things are not being taken care of correctly then it allows the big things to not be taken care of correctly.
HC: Can you explain the significance of the Agency Advisory Council?
RA: The OGA Executive Director is required by statutes to regularly meet with the Agency Advisory Council which is made up of a member from all the SGA identity-based agencies to get their input on important matters and the legislative agenda.
CK: Agencies at FSU help protect vulnerable populations, and the Agency Advisory Council assists OGA in crafting the legislative agenda. Bills like HB 1421 and HB 999 directly impact our vulnerable students on campus, and OGA voted not to advocate against those bills.
HC: Count VII is “failure to lobby on the amended OGA agenda.” Due to Florida’s current political climate, do you believe that this complaint is even more important today?
CK: Absolutely. OGA is the only body on campus that can officially lobby on behalf of the student body and student government. Therefore, when they go to the Capitol and are explicitly not allowed to mention any of the bills that disenfranchise our students it can send the message that we tolerate bigotry and hate. Especially when every other university in the state of Florida is sending students to lobby against these bills. Not allowing OGA to mention specific bills is a blatant disregard for the feelings of our student body, and it could potentially have devastating consequences.
HC: Is there anything else you would like to mention?
CK: I brought my concerns to Nimna Gabadage, the Student Body President, and asked for the OGA Director to be removed, and he refused. Being a student leader is more than showing up to meetings, it’s actively representing the student body.
RA: Recently, FSU day at the Capitol could have been the perfect opportunity for student voices to be heard. However, the legislative agenda was not properly expressed and OGA missed out on a clear opportunity to ensure that student concerns were properly lobbied for.
Both parties ended up reaching a settlement that is a matter of public record. Puwalski has agreed to resign from his position as OGA Director but has not legally admitted fault.
Things that usually seem trivial can have big consequences. While it may seem that “school politics” don’t matter, the reality is that they can cause a cascade effect on our local politics. Thank you Cole Kariher, Andrea Alvarez and Rawan Abhari for sharing some of your insight on student government politics.
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