Anna Bryson | The Crow’s Nest
By Dylan Hart
After a hectic week that nearly resulted in the impeachment of six Student Government members, the senate committee on impeachment has reached a decision:
No further investigation is necessary.
Senator Naya Payne aimed to impeach six members of SG: senators Trevor Martindale, Veronica Jimenez and Zoe Dukas, as well as Senate President Tiffany Porcelli, Chief Legal Officer Thomas Ryan and Student Body Vice President Ysatis Jordan.
Payne’s impeachment memorandum said that the members had conspired to impeach the entire supreme court, and that Porcelli, Ryan and Jordan had abused their powers.
The memorandum also cited tweets from Jordan’s public Twitter account, which she used to attack her coworkers by name and address them by their sexuality.
“Waiting for two gay males to call my boss crying about something that doesn’t even concern them,” she tweeted on April 10. “I’m taking bets on how long you think it will take.”
The tweet came after the failure of a bill drafted by senators Payne and Gregory Cote, which called for a new position — secretary of the senate — to increase transparency and outreach between SG and the student body.
On April 15, Jordan tweeted again: “Heard this girl named Mya Horak is obsessed with me. Apparently she can’t stop talking about me on Twitter and Tumblr I hope someone lets her know that I’m engaged.”
The tweet targeted a member of SG’s judicial branch, who had an anxiety attack during the court case that Payne requested after his bill failed. Horak blogged openly about her struggles with mental illness, but did not mention SG or members within it.
Read more about the impeachments in our April 22 report.
The committee decided not to investigate any of the six impeachments further, senator Lexi Bishop reported at an April 22 general assembly meeting.
Senator Ariel Duhart, a member of the committee, said that it was her understanding that Jordan’s Twitter attacks on her coworkers are “being taken care of in Student Conduct.”
Student Body President Daniel “Kaeden” Kelso spoke at the general assembly, where he presented the annual “State of the Student Body Address” to an audience of two students and three Crow’s Nest reporters.
He talked about his term’s accomplishments, including the establishment of a campus food pantry, SG’s sponsorship of the Purple and Teal basketball game, and the passage of a resolution opposing Title IX law changes.
In closing, Kelso asked the leaders of all three branches if they were still holding meetings or working on initiatives, and each branch leader replied that they were.
“I want you to look around and tell me if this organization is falling apart,” Kelso said, apparently referring to a front-page story in the April 22 edition of The Crow’s Nest. “I don’t see that. I see us working. I see our policies and our procedures working.”
Less than two hours after the meeting, Payne resigned from SG. In his resignation, Payne sent a stinging rebuke of the organization to everyone in SG — not unlike the resignation letter of former Ranking Justice Christine Rowe, who called SG “toxic” to everyone who is in it.
His email was simply titled: “Bye! (Resignation)”.
“I have absolutely no faith and no hope for this organization,” Payne wrote in the email. “The rampant corruption, abuses of power, pettiness, and unprofessionalism is absolutely RIDICULOUS.
“…From a president and senate with no spine, to those in the executive branch that can’t take criticism and try to force their agenda on others, to our very own lovely Vice-President Mike Pence… wait, I mean Ysatis Jordan. I have no time and no drive to stay here and try to fix all the plagues within student government, and it’s not going to get better.
“…I wish the few pure-hearted and clear-minded of you all luck. You are going to need it, and I admire you for staying. I’m usually not one to back out of a fight, but I know that it is not worth it at this point in time.”
Payne’s resignation prompted an email response from Dwayne Isaacs, director of Student Life and Engagement.
“This must STOP now,” he wrote on April 22. “These messages are absolutely unnecessary and again have no space here in SG.
“From this point forward I am asking any student who is resigning or thinking of doing so to please refrain from including comments directed towards other students.
“You risk breaking the student code of conduct and those who chose to ignore this request will be immediately referred through that process.
“To those continuing on in SG you will NOT use our work and school emails for non-business related items. This is not the place for these types of messages and they will not be tolerated here.”
Payne was recently elected as senate appropriations chair for the 48th term. It is unclear who will fill his position.
Chief Justice Nisuka Williams also resigned from SG shortly after midnight on April 23. She was previously the target of an impeachment memorandum sponsored by senator Trevor Martindale.
Williams is the fourth member of SG to resign in the past two weeks. Her email does not give a reason for her resignation.
“Thank you guys for allowing me to serve as Associate, Ranking, then Chief Justice,” Williams wrote in the email to all members of SG.
“Our achievements (in the judicial branch) are not widely acknowledged but no matter how small, they were a great and fundamental start to what you guys will carry on in the future. I’m proud of my justices that despite all they’ve been through have served not only the branch but the whole of SG and the USFSP community.
“…No matter how tough SG gets, once you have good people by your side you’ll realize everything’s okay. If the future of SG concerns you, don’t go in thinking of how bad it was or how bad it can get just focus on how good you can make it.”
Stay with crowsneststpete.com for updates.
Read Payne’s full letter of resignation below. It has been broken up into paragraphs for readability.
“Hey, everyone!
“Finally, I can speak my full-mind without being yelled at with slander and threats of impeachment! I am officially resigning from this hellhole, effective after the banquet.
“For the record: I have absolutely no faith and no hope for this organization. It is 100% not what I thought it’d be, and 100% not what is should be. All governing organizations have problems, but this is on a whole ‘nother level. The rampant corruption, abuses of power, pettiness, and unprofessionalism is absolutely RIDICULOUS.
“I have remained filtered and professional, yet principled and firm: but I am taking this moment to call out all that is wrong with SG. From a president and senate with no spine, to those in the executive branch that can’t take criticism and try to force their agenda on others, to our very own lovely Vice-President Mike Pence… wait, I mean Ysatis Jordan.
“I have no time and no drive to stay here and try to fix all the plagues within student government, and it’s not going to get better. Our new senate leadership are both complacent and complicit with the corruption, our vice-president elect has had a hand in most of the scandals, and our only competent branch will most likely be resigning due to the bullsh*t.
“I’m disappointed and angered that most of SG has no spine or voice to stand up for our supposed “values,” and are just in it for themselves. Students have condemned the organization, faculty have condemned the organization, and higher-ups in administration have condemned the organization, and most of you all are fine with that and seek to do nothing.
“I considered staying and being the only voice of reason, but I’ve come to realize; it’s not worth it and the tainted SG does not deserve my time nor my work. I fear that a lot of you want actual careers in politics. You all should have been stopped in your tracks immediately.
“We are allowing potential future-leaders (followers) to exploit their power and exhibit their corruption with no fear of punishment. It’s insanity and at this point: maybe we should let Tampa take over and host one student government. St. Petersburg hasn’t seen true leadership nor good governance in a long time, and we now have future sitting SPAB members who don’t even know what consolidation is.
“And so, this “threat to student government” as many of you coined me as, is resigning, because yes: I am a threat to student government, because I want and pushed to fix our status quo and our corrupt ways.
“I refuse to be a part of an organization that employs a homophobe in a top position, and employs people who don’t respect pronouns and refer to one of the only wholesome members as a “he” when she is a she.
“I refuse to be a part of an organization that concentrates power in the hands of the few, and silences any opposition.
“I refuse to be a part of an organization where the higher-ups hate USFSP, and rather be at Southern Methodist University and Florida State University, and are just in SG to put it on their resume and wreak their havoc on our campus.
“I refuse to be a part of an organization where the Senate President, Pro Tempore, Vice-President, and others staged an all-out smear campaign with lies and falsehoods, and then had a “party” in the office celebrating one’s defeat.
“I refuse to be a part of an organization where corruption, unprofessionalism, and evil are swept under the rug and just accepted for what it is.
“I refuse to be a part of an organization where ALL members are not treated with dignity and respect.
“I refuse to be a part of an organization where I am labelled “emotional” and “un-composed” because I stand up to tyrants and dictators.
“I refuse to be a part of an organization where people do not have principles or backbones, and just do what others tell them to do.
“I refuse to be part of an organization where all opinions are not respected and taken into account.
“Finally, I refuse to be part of an organization where we are fostering people with malicious and self-serving intentions to become accustomed to wielding power over others, and abusing it immensely.
“So, in closing: I wish the few pure-hearted and clear-minded of you all luck. You are going to need it, and I admire you for staying. I’m usually not one to back out of a fight, but I know that it is not worth it at this point in time.
“I plan on possibly rejoining Student Government in some capacity in the distant future (if we still have a Student Government), and hopefully at that point we will have competent and ethical people who know what’s going on, and actually care about the student body.
“I am thankful for the skills I have learned here, like how to deal with bullsh*t and navigate through a corrupt system, but that’s about it. Okay, I’m done.
“Bye!
“P.S.: This’ll probably be taken as a show of me being “overemotional” and as a lack of “composure,” but, I do not allow people with no morals or values to judge me and label me something I am not. I do not seek nor need validation from most of you in this organization.”
Revision history:
- This story was updated at 10:08 p.m. on April 22, 2019, to include Dwayne Isaacs’ response to Payne’s letter of resignation.
- This story was updated again on April 23, 2019, to include the resignation of SG’s chief justice, Nisuka Williams.
“From this point forward I am asking any student who is resigning or thinking of doing so to please refrain from including comments directed towards other students. You risk breaking the student code of conduct and those who chose to ignore this request will be immediately referred through that process.”
University HR had to drop threats to curb the tidal wave of bad publicity that was harming already under-performig enrollment numbers. Cut SG entirely. Turn their salaries into experiential opportunities for the PoliSci department so aspiring leaders can gain practice and resume fodder without the toxicity. Place A&S distribution into the hands of the relevant administrators who likely know student life more accurately, because its already their full-time job. Said administrators can use already existing means of student outreach to more accurately distribute funds, consolidating and streamlining the entire appropriations process while simultaneously establishing a more responsive and democratic legislature.
Even if it wasn’t packed with mistakes dressed up like humans, SG is a concept doomed from its inception. Teens and twenty-somethings, already delirious from full-time enrollment, dozens of hours of play-governmnent bureaucracy and part-time work to supplement USF’s pitiful pay are expected to make wise disbursements from millions of our tuition money? This year’s chair of the appropriations committee openly admitted the process was a “complete mess” (https://crowsneststpete.com/2019/03/25/sg-budget-deep-cuts-big-salaries/). Three years ago they made a nearly $100,000 mess (http://crowsneststpete.com/2016/09/07/student-government-makes-93511-mistake/).
This isn’t supposed to be a critique of SG members, this is a critique of the system. As outlined above, there are more efficient, more effective methods for fulfilling the purposes of SG. I’m all for hands-on leadership experience for students, but not when their peers have to literally pay for the (inevitable) mistakes. USF apparently has no problem silencing SG when their spectacular blunders cost the university reputation and enrollment revenue, why can’t we do the same for ourselves and our wasted tuition?