Student trustee may face recall

Recall petition announced at Anderson’s inauguration

If the petition receives enough certified signatures, there will be a recall election in which students will vote on whether or not to recall Anderson from the position. It would be a yes or no vote, and wouldn’t determine if Navarrete or anyone else would step in to fill the position. The Board of Trustees has the sole responsibility of replacing a recalled candidate.

“If a Student Trustee position becomes vacant due to removal, recall, resignation, or other reason, a successor shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees,” according to board rule 21007. “The Board shall either order an election or make a provisional appointment to fill the vacancy within 60 days.” it’s commonplace that they would be armed.”

Police removed the man from the car and placed him under arrest. Matassa said the man was arrested for grand theft auto. However, Douglas Johnson, a robbery detective with the LAPD Topanga Division, said he was arrested for violating California Vehicle Code 10851, the theft and unlawful taking or driving of a vehicle. According to Johnson the felony charge differs from grand theft auto in that the latter requires evidence the suspect intended to keep the car for an extended period of time.

The female passenger reportedly appeared ill, and was transported to an unspecified hospital in unknown condition by ambulance. A syringe was seen being removed from the car but whether it belonged to the man or woman or was associated with narcotics is unknown.

“I noticed she was kind of fidgeting a little bit, making a lot of abrupt movements,” Matassa said. “Which usually indicates someone is under the influence of [a controlled substance].”

Neither Johnson nor Matassa knew if the woman was likely to face any charges in connection with the crime.

The vehicle was impounded and will eventually be released to the owner.

11/10—Car Hits Student

At about 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a student reported that they had been struck by a car while walking in the crosswalk at Mason Avenue and Olympic Drive. It is unknown if the driver stopped, or if the student suffered any injuries.

Immediately following the inauguration of Milo Anderson as L.A. Community College District student trustee on Nov. 4, his former opponent. Ryan Navarrete of L.A. Trade Technical College, announced his intent to have him recalled.

Anderson was elected student trustee in September and was sworn in on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the Board of Trustees meeting at East L.A. Community College. Navarrete announced his intent to force a vote to have Anderson recalled, and cited low voter turnout as the reason.

“I want to be able to spread out the word, that ‘elections are going on again, come out vote, come out vote.’” Navarrete said. “If it comes out that 2,500 students vote and I still lose, I’m OK with that.”

If approved, this would be the third student trustee election this year.

Navarrete was initially declared the winner of the first election in April by a margin of only three votes out of 4,143 votes cast. That election was contested by Anderson, the results were discarded and a special election was held in September. Anderson won the second election, but only 879 valid votes were counted. Anderson said he’s unfazed, and said this will only highlight flaws in the rules’ wording.

“I’m not worried in the slightest,” Anderson said. “I’m actually grateful to him for it. He’s raising awareness about how badly the rules need to be fixed and he may even get more people interested in student representation in the process.”

LACCD board rule 21006 lists the protocol for recalling a student trustee. It does not define valid or invalid reasons for a recall, or prohibit anyone from collecting signatures for a recall petition before the student trustee has begun their term.

“Petitions calling for the recall must be signed by 35 percent of the number of students voting in the previous Student Trustee election at all of the LACCD colleges,” according to the document. Navarrete would need 307 signatures to reach the 35 percent required for a recall election. He said he has 325 signatures, and will present them to the board once he has had them certified.

“I’m going to try to get a few more,” Navarrete said. “I received signatures from Pierce, Mission, ELAC, LATTC, LACC and Harbor.”

The recall petition is strongly opposed by Gerson Liahut-Sanchez, External Affairs Senator for Region Seven of the Student Senate For California Community Colleges, the student government body at the statewide level. After the first election was nullified, it was LiahutSanchez who was appointed to fill the vacant position in the interim. He stepped down when Anderson was sworn in.

“I do not support it. Not because I am in favor for one candidate or the other. I do not support it because I can not put my students through another election again,” he said. “That’s unfair to them, it’s unfair to the district, it’s just unfair overall.”

Liahut-Sanchez criticized both candidates for the drawn out process.

“It’s completely outrageous that both sides of the election, they’re just constantly submitting complaints about how things are done,” he said. “The position they’re running for –student trustee – is the representation of the students. And they’re going back and forth bickering about the concept of the position, and not actually doing it, or having the students in mind.”

Anderson said “there are more important things to worry about.”

He cited an ongoing study by the Metro Transit Authority to determine the feasibility of free or discounted TAP cards for college students in L.A. It is unknown when a possible recall election would be held.

Right: Los Angeles Police Department officers surround a male suspect who was followed onto campus driving a stolen white Honda Accord on Nov. 13, 2015. According to Detective Douglas Johnson, the suspect will be charged with a violation of California Vehicle Code 10851, commonly know as joy-riding. Photo by: Valeska Reynafarje

Below: The wrists of the female passenger who was in the stolen car are handcuffed as LAPD officers interrogate her in Parking Lot 1. Photo by: