Less than a week after he was elected the A.S. vice president external by a slim margin, Thurgood Marshall College Student Council Vice Chair Eddie Herrera has gotten a less than warm welcome from his future co-workers.
Vice President External-elect Eddie Herrera was the only candidate from the Tritons United! slate to win an executive position in next year’s A.S. Council.
Herrera, part of Earl Warren College senior Daniel Watts’ reformist Tritons United! slate, built his platform on overhauling the A.S. Council’s morals and ethics.
Herrera and Watts filed a California Public Records Act request for receipts they said showed that illegal refunds given to former A.S. Vice President External Kevin Mann for “tapered shot glasses” purchased with student funds on a lobbying trip.
The incident is one in a long line of corrupt acts that council leaders condoned, Herrera said during his campaigning.
“There are so many things that this council has done that have been appalling,” Herrera said. “We need to change the way we deal with moral issues, which would help us represent the students the way we should be.”
After winning his position in last week’s elections — the lone TU! candidate in an executive post — Herrera said he was worried about collaborating with executives who would continue the practices of the existing council, as many of the incoming councilmembers are already affiliated with this year’s group.
“I will not compromise my principles,” Herrera said. “I plan on prosecuting student representatives who display malicious intent or preferential treatment. If student representatives are going to act in this way, I’m going to make sure that they have the incentive not to.”
Some incoming leaders have taken offense to Herrera’s comments, calling his behavior standoffish. Vice President Finance-elect Conrad Ohashi, who currently serves as John Muir College Senior Senator, posted several comments in response to Herrera’s statements on the Guardian’s online Web board.
“Eddie … I just have one [piece of] advice to you as a fellow student. Can you please just stop taking things so seriously?” Ohashi stated in the online comment he confirmed he wrote. “The council sometimes makes bad decisions, I admit. But they’re not without good intentions. And seriously, WTF do you know about me and my morals? I hope you stop playing politician and get real, ‘cause otherwise, I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to work with someone like you next year. I sincerely hope you stop making enemies and start making friends.”
Since posting the comment, Ohashi has said that although he made his remarks “for good or bad,” he hopes that the council can overcome slate loyalties and work together. Other current and past councilmembers have expressed less enthusiasm.
VP External Samantha Peterson said that she has had experience where Herrera’s politics have been less than savory.
“My personal experience with Eddie during my appointment last year, for which he was also a candidate, allows me to attest to his overtly political manipulation of the words ‘moral’ and ‘ethical’ as his credentials in the stead of little, if any, experience organizing students to work for the equal rights in education,” she stated.
In addition, former Vice President External Rigo Marquez, a strong supporter of Mann, attacked Herrera’s resume. While Herrera has had extensive experience in state and local politics, he has not been involved with traditional UCSD representative entities such as the UC Students Association.
“Eddie appears like a great candidate on paper, but what has he really done for UCSD or even students in the UC, CSU and community colleges?” Marquez stated in a letter to the editor of the Guardian. “Because all of Eddie’s experience is only in lobbying, he is an incompetent candidate.”
Herrera had planned to speak at the April 19 A.S Council meeting to voice his concerns about his upcoming tenure. He canceled the plan, opting to speak to each candidate-elect individually to iron out misunderstandings, Herrera said.
“At the current moment, I feel that my performance as vice president external and [in] the office of external affairs will be under unprecedented scrutiny by fellow members of council,” he said. “I will meet with each councilmember-elect to ensure that each individual understands that I am here to work with them in order to improve the quality of life for students and our university. We must be able to put these elections behind us and make strides forward, together.”
Herrera has already scheduled a meeting with Ohashi, who said that his initial remarks were not personal attacks against Herrera or his campaign.
