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Saturday, April 20, 2024

Nineteen senators - 12 from the Gator Party, six from the Orange and Blue Party and one independent senator - were appointed to Student Senate committees during Tuesday's meeting.

Although nominations made by members of the Senate's Replacement and Agenda Committee provided the minority party with more committee representation, some senators felt more qualified candidates from both parties could have been chosen over the nominees.

Senate Pro-Tempore Brian Matz, chairman of the Replacement and Agenda Committee, said about 35 senators applied to fill the 19 spaces available on the committees.

Two Gator Party senators, Matt Michel and Brandon White, were appointed to lead committees.

Orange and Blue Party Sens. Mark McShera and Ben Cavataro, who were appointed to the Replacement and Agenda Committee, submitted a seven-page "Replacement and Agenda Committee Minority Report" as an analysis of the committee's Sunday meeting where applicants were interviewed and nominations were decided.

In their report, they concluded the committee's performance was "questionable to malfeasant" because some senators with "inferior ideas and track records" were appointed over some with experience. Cavataro said in an interview that his party opposed some of the choices because he thought selections were made beforehand, outside of the interviewing process.

Senate President Jordan Johnson said in an interview that Cavataro's claim is "old news," referring to private e-mails exchanged among top Student Government officials about Senate appointments and assignments in May.

"Let's realize that we have some new people running the show, and things have changed," Jordan said.

After the report was read aloud during the meeting, Gator Party Sen. William Harrell asked that the original nominations be confirmed through a vote, which would have bypassed taking new nominations.

An hour and a half of debate was then spent discussing why it was democratic to hear new nominations and arguing the proper rules of procedure.

Following the debacle, Johnson allowed for new nominations to come from the floor. Still, all the senators listed in the original recommendations were approved.

Despite the night's bickering, Johnson said he wasn't disappointed with his first full meeting as president. He said he felt the ratio of Gator Party to Orange and Blue Party senators appointed accurately reflected the Senate.

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"What happened tonight wasn't a bad thing," Johnson said. "You've got to expect this."

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