EUGENE – The Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee adjourned its scheduled hearing for OSPIRG without a vote on the activism group’s proposed $117,000 contract Wednesday evening. Without further action by OSPIRG, the Senate, or the Executive, ACFC’s refusal to vote on a contract means OSPIRG will not receive funding from the ASUO for the third year running in 2011-2012.

During OSPIRG’s presentation, Charles Denson, state board chair for OSPIRG, described the group’s student-driven mission by saying “When we’re looking at what we’re working on, we have to be accountable to you all.” Other presenters detailed the group’s work with legislators of both parties on issues such as health care reform.

Following the group’s presentation, ASUO Chief of Staff Ben Eckstein submitted the Executive’s recommendation of a $117,000 contract, a recommendation which was backed up by ASUO President Amelie Rousseau, who stated that “students really do want [OSPIRG].” Others who spoke in favor of approving the contract included Sen. Zachary Stark-MacMillan and ASUO Vice President Maneesh Arora, who cited a referendum on OSPIRG funding which passed with 51% in favor last year.

Not everyone in the room was supportive of OSPIRG, however. Sen. Evan Thomas stated his opposition to the group came not from their mission, but from their funding model. “The idea of having a mandatory fee for a public interest group is just hypocritical,” Thomas said. Thomas continued to say that the current accountability model was “not good enough.”

Other senators, the only ones allowed on the speakers list besides OSPIRG representatives, committee members and Executive staff, heaped on the concerns. Sen. Kristina Harding asked to see the group’s budget, Sen. Brian Powell inquired as to the group’s size and Sen. Janet Brooks pointed out that the majority of students did not vote on the ballot measure Arora mentioned.  Summing up her colleague’s points, Sen. Kaitlyn Lange quipped that “There’s a reason we’re not the only [institution] that’s defunded them.”

Few were quite as direct in their criticisms of OSPIRG as the committee’s two senators. Sen. Ian Fielding read from an opinion column recently printed in the Oregon Daily Emerald and pointed out that OSPIRG has been the only contract to actively lobby ACFC members. Sen. Brianna Woodside-Gomez said she had felt intimidated by the group’s lobbying efforts.

Woodside-Gomez described receiving text messages, emails to her personal account and being “cornered” during her office hours. Woodside-Gomez also expressed displeasure with some of OSPIRG’s other campaign tactics, referencing petitioners who were recently working to get another referendum on the ballot for this year’s ASUO elections. “They can’t even tell me what OSPIRG is,” she said of some of the petitioners she talked to.

At the conclusion of her remarks, Woodside-Gomez moved to adjourn the meeting, a motion supported by every member of the committee except Clark Kissiah, the Executive’s appointee. Baring an appeal, ACFC’s budget will be without an OSPIRG contract for its final hearing before the Senate on March 2, 2011. Woodside-Gomez told the Commentator that unless the group appealed the decision, another hearing would not be schedueled. “Four people decided to adjourn; that’s basically saying that ‘no, we do not agree with funding for OSPIRG,’” Woodside-Gomez said.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 at 02:09 by Rockne Andrew Roll and is filed under ASUO, Miscellaneous, OSPIRG. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.