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Photo by Mick Eagleson/The Advocate
ASG President Bradley Best speaks regarding complaints about his conduct at Wednesday’s Senate meeting.
Complaints of inappropriate behavior filed against ASG president
The Advocate
The Associated Student Government Senate will be investigating a series of complaints made against ASG President Bradley Best — including “disorderly, lewd, or indecent” and unprofessional behavior — as presented in a senate meeting Wednesday.
The senate will form a committee to look into the accusations, Senate Pro Tempore Sam Brown said after the meeting.
Four letters of complaint were presented at the meeting from ASG Senate Admin Priscilla Pitts, ASG Director of Finance Rae Nichelle-Peres, President of Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) Heather Nichelle-Peres and Sayoko Sasao, president of the Remarkable Islander Causing Excitement Club (RICE). Pitts, Heather Nichelle-Peres and Rae Nichelle-Peres presented complaints while Sasao wrote a letter of support for Heather Nichelle-Peres.
Each letter detailed specific grievances against Best. Pitts wrote that Best “has made me the subject to sexual looks, comments and gestures several times. I have also witnessed this behavior with other female students and faculty.” She said Best “seems to simply want to be the center of power wherever power is to be found.” According to the letter, this included asking Pitts to fulfill tasks outside her job description and showing “a lack of concern for many ASG members.”
Rae Nichelle-Peres wrote that Best “tends to hover” and that he “shows favoritism and is abrasive and lacks proper respect with the Vice President and other ASG members.” She also mentioned incidents of “ogling” and “checking out” female students and staff.
Heather Nichelle-Peres said in her letter that QSA has dealt with a lack of support and said that was due to “Bradley Best’s personal feelings toward myself.” She specifically cited an issue related to an Oregon Students of Color Conference (OSCC) in November.
In an interview Wednesday prior to the meeting, Heather Nichelle-Peres said ASG in the past had paid for students to attend the conference and that “nothing was mentioned on a limit” of how many could attend. She said five students requested to attend, with two sharing registration (for a total of four registrations).
“I get an email on the last day of registration saying he wasn’t going to pay,” she said. “He wouldn’t give me a straight answer.”
Best said in an interview with The Advocate prior to the meeting that other clubs only requested to send three people and he wanted “to keep a continuity across the board that everyone is equal.”
As far as personal bias, Best said, “I’ve always been supportive of QSA. Heather is truly a leader around the college. She does a great job.”
Sasao said she had no trouble getting Best to fund RICE’s expenses for the same conference; her letter also states she only requested funding for three students.
As for the complaints in general, Best told The Advocate, “I could see their point of view but a lot of it was hearsay.” Best said that if these issues were so detrimental then “Why are they being brought up so late?” However, Best added that he is more than willing to listen and solve the issues.
“It’s a two-way street,” Best said. “There’s a friction of communication.”
At the meeting, Best addressed the senate and attendees and acknowledged the complaints and the “challenges within our group.”
“I’ve worked really, really hard to get to this position,” Best said. “We put as much effort as possible to ensure a new commonwealth for the students through ASG. Maybe I’ve made some mistakes. We’re not all perfect.
“We’ve got to grow and we’ve got to move on. We’ve got to make some changes. We made a few mistakes, but it’s not a mistake until you refuse to correct it.”
Best said he had not read the resolution as written by Brown and had received copies of the letters an hour before the senate meeting Wednesday.
Heather Nichelle-Peres also addressed the senate and brought a petition bearing the signatures of 29 students supporting the issues presented in the letters.
“I believe the senate is the voice of the students,” she said. “I do ask that Bradley be held accountable for his actions and remember that we’re here for the students.”
John King, special correspondent to the ASG president, spoke on behalf of Best, and said, “A lot of these (complaints) are subjective interpretations of behavior.” He added that Best “has a strong leadership drive.”
Holly Corbitt, director of Student Activities Board, said she has always felt supported by Best, adding that as the senate looks into these accusations that “as you judge him, first judge yourself.”
Corbitt also distributed a letter of support for Best outside the meeting. Director of Community Affairs Jeannine Retzlaff and ASMHCC Director of Communications James Dezellem wrote similar letters.
“Though he may make mistakes and people may misunderstand his intentions, I feel that Bradley has done a great job, even in the face of some who have wished for his failure since the very beginning of his presidency,” Dezellem said in his letter.
The resolution asked that Best correct his behavior and that “no retribution in any form will be taken on those who participated in this complaint or petition.” If the behavior were to continue, the senate would “request the president’s resignation or begin the impeachment process.”
After the reading of the resolution, the senate recessed into executive session (a closed, confidential meeting) to deliberate the matter.
After returning to open session, the senate voted to turn the resolution over to the committee to investigate the complaints.
Brown said, “I think this came out positively in the situation’s favor. I love to see (that) no rash decisions were made on the spot.
“The main point of this resolution was for students to have their voice heard,” he said.
According to Dean of Student Services Robert Cox, there is no specific mechanism to reprimand the president or vice president of ASG.
Cox said a complaint like this would not usually be brought to the senate this early and that that is “a bylaw problem.” Heather Nichelle-Peres said in an interview Wednesday that she brought the issue to the senate because “they’re the voice of the students” versus going the route of impeachment.
In Section 3 A of Article 11, the bylaws say, “The President and Vice President shall not be disciplined in the same manner as appointed officials. Instead they shall be recalled by a special recall election.”
If a student wishes to remove either the president or vice president, they must make this known to the Election Committee; they must also collect 200 signatures via a petition. A recall election would then take place.
Heather Nichelle-Peres said, “We decided to go to the senate because they’re the voice of the students.”
Asked if these complaints had been expressed prior to the senate meeting, Peterman said in an interview before the meeting, “I don’t think they’ve been expressed as they are (now),” adding that “I feel they have attempted to express these issues to the best of their abilities.”
Heather Nichelle-Peres, Best, Cox, Student Events and Center Coordinator Meadow McWhorter and Pam Kuretich, student events and special projects coordinator, had a “sit down,” according to Best, after Cox informed Best about “a code of conduct issue.”
“A lot of good communication came out of that,” Best said. “I feel like we got some issues resolved.” Cox said he felt “it (the sit-down) went great.”
“At that meeting I made clear what we (QSA) expect and my frustrations, as far as club support goes,” Heather Nichelle-Peres said. Of the meeting she said “I think it went pretty well” and that “It was nice to be able to sit down and talk and clear the air.”
However, Heather Nichelle-Peres still wanted to address the senate and present the letters at the meeting.
“The actual complaint was from several students,” she said.
After the senate meeting, Peterman said, “This is the way they felt, and because they feel this way, it has to be addressed.”
This is not the first instance of conflict between the parties involved. A problem emerged last spring during ASG elections when Best and King ran against Danielle Pannell and Rae Nichelle-Peres for the positions of president and vice president. Complaints were raised by supporters of Pannell and Rae Nichelle-Peres regarding Best’s campaign tactics. Best denied any inappropriate behavior and no formal complaints were filed.
“I don’t want to say he’s (Best) hung up on drama from the elections, but that’s what it feels like,” Heather Nichelle-Peres said. She added that the issues presented to the senate surrounded more than this, however. “This isn’t about me, it’s about what’s best for the students,” she said.
Best said, “I am most certainly always willing to listen.” Assessing the issue, he said he liked “the communication that it’s sparked.”
“When you have conflict and you resolve it, it’s a breath of fresh air,” Best said.
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Comments
All parties had their say, information came only from the mouths of the sources, and no topic or premise lingered for too long.
There will doubtless be many who lay claims of misrepresentation or bias, and to them I say, âWrite a letter to the editor!â This is the kind of paper that encourages open, lively discussions and debate from the community. After all, closed communication seems to be at the root of the issues raised in this piece.
So, huzzah to Chelsea Van Baalen, huzzah to The Advocate and huzzah to the students of Mt. Hood Community College. May the disaffected find the inspiration to get involved!
Thanks.