The UF Student Government Rules and Ethics Committee met June 17 for nearly four hours to consider the expulsion of Student Senate President Oscar Santiago Perez (Change-District D).
During the announcements section of the June 13 Senate meeting, Minority Party Leader Bronson Allemand (Gator-District A) said he will file a case against Santiago Perez.
Allemand’s charges against Santiago Perez included malfeasance, moral turpitude and forgery. Allemand alleged Santiago Perez filled out a Feb. 21 voter record for former Change Sen. Anaum Virani.
The June 17 meeting was called to order at 11:09 a.m. and ended at 3:22 p.m.
Members present included Rules and Ethics Committee Vice Chairman Matt Reich (Gator-District D), Sen. Laurel Wentworth (Change-District D), Sen. Raj Mia (Change-CALS), Sen. Zoe Richter (Change-CALS) and Judiciary Committee Vice Chairperson Joaquin Marcelino (Change-District D).
Rules and Ethics Committee Chairwoman Lilliana Clark (Gator-District A) led the meeting. She didn’t participate in questioning, deliberations or voting.
Allemand claimed when he viewed voting records, the handwriting on Virani’s voter record matched Santiago Perez’s handwriting. He believes Santiago Perez acted with malicious intent when they filled out Virani’s voter record when she wasn’t present at the meeting, Allemand said.
The voter record would’ve been filled out when Santiago Perez was the Deputy Minority Party Leader, who is second-in-charge of the caucus.
The committee deliberated extensively, and it believes Virani most likely lied about her attendance at the Feb. 21 Senate meeting but couldn't conclude if Virani’s proceedings held weight in finding Santiago Perez guilty.
Virani claimed to have gone to the Feb. 21 meeting after finishing a statistics exam, according to the evidence presented and Virani’s previous statements. Virani alleged she approached former Sen. Mohammed Faisal (Change-District D), who directed her to Santiago Perez for assistance.
The committee noted the discrepancies in Virani’s previous statements in regard to her exam time and previous on-the-record testimony.
In a four-to-one vote, the committee motioned Santiago Perez to be exonerated of all charges. Santiago Perez did not testify during the trial, but Judiciary Committee Chairperson Jonathan C. Stephens (Change-District D) represented them.
The ethics committee conducted a fair and very rigorous review, Stephen said, and they thought the case filing was part of a political stunt.
“I'm happy that the committee overwhelmingly recognized and exonerated our Senate president,” Stephens said. “I'm moving forward to make sure that we focus on business that's affecting students and not creating political theater.”
The blame shifted throughout the course of the case from the Senate president to Virani, and Allemand believes there should be a level of accountability taken from the Senate president, too, he said.
“I would have just liked to hear something from the Senate president,” Allemand said. “Just so that the committee could come to a more holistic view of what happened through the entire meeting.”
Reich was the only member on the committee who voted to expel Santiago Perez. Reich found it important to thank chairwoman Clark and his peers on the committee before he commented on the case presented, he wrote in an email.
“Although there are often disagreements and differences of opinion between us, I can always count on the presence of professionalism and respect, [June 17] being no exception,” Reich wrote.
The evidence and discussions throughout the case led Reich to the conclusion the senate president was guilty of attempting to mislead the Senate and Student Body through forgery.
“Although the majority of the committee did not vote with me, I still consider today's proceedings a strong validation of my conclusions and a valuable investigation into a potential injustice against the student body,” Reich wrote.
“Through democratic and parliamentary means the committee could discern notable discrepancies and unanswered questions relating to Santiago Perez’s conduct, however, we could not agree on the intent of said actions,” Reich wrote.
Marcelino addressed the hearing of Allemand v. Santiago Perez and noted the plaintiff didn’t fulfill the burden of proof.
There were serious doubts regarding the veracity of the charges based upon the qualifications required to be found guilty of the allegations, Marcelino wrote.
“The evidence presented was circumstantial at best and based on pure conjecture,” Marcelino wrote.
Chairwoman Clark didn’t vote or deliberate but issued a statement about the committee’s decision and the discrepancies in the testimonies presented.
Clark believes Virani’s claim was the most critical piece of evidence in the case. Virani was the only one involved who had issued a statement, and it was the only written statement of events the committee had, Clark wrote.
“I hope that someone else can attest, on sworn record, that Anaum did physically make it to Senate, and that Oscar had no reason to believe that she was lying to them about her votes and attendance,” Clark wrote. “Unfortunately, at this point in time, this cannot be corroborated or confirmed in order to instill trust and confidence in the head of our Legislative Branch.”
Santiago Perez believes the committee made the right decision, and they expressed much of the evidence presented was inconclusive.
“The petitioner has the burden of proof to show that I am guilty — that was not present in the deliberations delivered by the minority party leader,” Santiago Perez said. “I think that the record [reflects] that now with this committee deliberation.”
Contact Vivienne at vserret@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @vivienneserret.
Vivienne Serret is a UF journalism and criminology senior, reporting for The Alligator's university desk as the student government reporter and managing editor for The Florida Political Review. She loves debating, lifting at the gym and singing.
