Before he was elected student body president in spring, Cody Boyer was easily spotted on Harborwalk. He connected with students, even those with little interest in university politics, and encouraged them to vote. He won over the hearts of the student body.
Boyer now faces the impeachment charges.
Attorney General Melanie Mercado submitted an impeachment memo to Senate Pro-Tempore Jared Pieniazek on Aug. 9. The memo accuses Boyer of improper hiring of student government staff, failure to attend most general assembly meetings, purchase of a laptop for personal use, among other accusations.
The impeachment memo came as a shock to Boyer, who told The Crow’s Nest he was “flabbergasted.”
“The first thing I thought of was how much I’ve sacrificed for this university,” he said.
Boyer said most of the accusations were the result of miscommunication.
The memo accuses Boyer of giving his constitutional duties to another cabinet member. During the process of nominating eight people to positions in student government, Boyer delegated the nomination responsibility to his chief of staff, Brandon Myers.
“The student body president doesn’t have to oversee everything,” Boyer said, adding that previous administrations have delegated this responsibility to the chief of staff.
Article II, Section III of SG’s constitution says the president “may delegate any duties and responsibilities he/she deems necessary to the Student Body Vice President.” No provision is made for the chief of staff.
This claim is repeated in the eight counts of nonfeasance, which say he improperly nominated eight students.
The memo also says he took a purchased laptop off campus for his personal use. But Boyer said the only time he took the laptop off campus was for SG meetings downtown, and he never used it outside of work.
The memo also said Boyer didn’t work hours he claimed he did and that he wasn’t seen in the office during those hours. But Boyer said his office hours don’t equate to working hours. He goes to meetings around campus throughout the week.
“I’m not sitting in my office for every hour that is worked,” Boyer said.
Also listed in the memo is the charge that Boyer hired an ineligible student, Anastasiya Fokina, to the digital media specialist position. Fokina is an incoming student and had not yet started her classes when hired. She was not eligible to be hired, according to Article I, Section I of the Constitution.
Boyer said he had no control over her ineligible status.
“She was actually to matriculate in the summer but decided to drop and register in the fall, which we have no control over,” Boyer said.
Boyer believes he has accomplished much over the summer, despite the impeachment process. The free printing lab is now available in two places on campus, and now uses a swipe system, creating more accountability than the spring’s much-abused free printing lab. He said his involvement in the Capital Improvement Trust Fund meetings has been fruitful. A volleyball court is in the works behind the University Student Center, and more money has been dedicated to solutions for the pool.
Boyer hired Mercado as an attorney general assistant in June. She was promoted to attorney general at the end of the summer.
Mercado said she started getting complaints about Boyer and started noticing things weren’t right.
“You stay awake late at night and can’t fall asleep because you know things aren’t being done right,” Mercado said.
The impeachment memo was sent Aug. 9 at 9:17 a.m., just more than 13 hours after then-Vice President Jordan Iuliucci announced her resignation. Iuliucci told The Crow’s Nest her resignation was for personal reasons. Her father suffered a heart attack this summer and Iuliucci is having hearing problems. She also described “mental and physical” challenges SG presented to her “health and well-being” that caused her to need to resign.
“I have no regrets,” she said. “I’d never want to put in a bad word for student government.”
In her resignation letter, she expressed her excitement for Boyer’s administration and thanked SG for her experience as vice president.
Should Boyer be impeached, the presidency will fall to the Senate president, Taylor Adams, then to the senate pro-tempore, Jared Pieniazek.
At an Aug. 20 emergency general assembly meeting, SG senators appointed Carly Chaput, Nicholas Patides and Tsigana Kubiszak to the senate impeachment committee. Deliberations in the committee are private.
Before the committee was nominated, Julie Wong, the regional associate vice chancellor, addressed the senators. After saying how much she cared about them, she expressed her disappointment in the entire impeachment process.
“There is a level of integrity that I’m not seeing that I want to see from more of you,” she said. She also said she didn’t feel the students who elected Boyer were being put first.
The impeachment process puts Boyer’s abilities to nominate a vice president on hold. SG starts the year without a vice president, a full cabinet or a full senate.
Charges Against Cody Boyer
Attorney General Melanie Mercado submitted an impeachment memo to Senate Pro-Tempore Jared Pieniazek on Aug. 9. Here are the charges against Boyer as written in the impeachment memo:
Incompetence – 4 Counts
Defined by SG as “Lack of qualification, inadequate qualification, or lack of the qualities necessary to fulfill the duties of a position.”
- Very little or no knowledge on Constitutional/Statutory duties for
- Nominated an ineligible individual for a student government position
- Failure to require Buckley Waiver*
- Failure to attend most of the general assembly meetings
*A Buckley Waiver is a document listing qualifications for hiring.
Misfeasance – 3 Counts
Defined by SG as “performance of a lawful action in an illegal or improper manner or with an improper or corrupt motive.”
- Improperly transferred Constitutional duties to another member of student government
- Purchase of laptop for personal usage
- Claiming hours not worked
Nonfeasance – 10 Counts
Defined by SG as “Failure to perform an act that is either an official duty or a legal requirement.”
- Violation of Constitutional duty to oversee all departments, agencies, offices and bureaus of Student Government.
- (8 counts) Failure to properly nominate Chief Justice Rim Shuman, Associate Justice Chloe Kirkland, Associate Justice Kristofer Brown, Assistant Attorney General Melanie Mercado Director of Marketing and Communications Anthony Freese, Director of Community and Governmental Relations Kyleigh Cobett, Director of University Relations Taylor Russell and Digital Media Specialist Anastasyia Fokina.
- Failure to address the senate on the state of the student body during the 2014 summer term
The impeachment memo is available by email upon request. Contact Jared Pieniazek at jpieniazek@mail.usf.edu, or contact any SG member.
