What Lee Sprague, the president of SF State's student government, expected during his campaign last spring - political divisions among student organizations - didn't happen then, he should be worried that it is about to happen now, if the whining, finger-pointing and counterattacks are not over soon.
The ongoing rift between the Associated Students president and some of his constituents, including his vice president, threatens to undo the great expectations vested in the Associated Students after conducting a smooth election campaign last spring, devoid of verbal attacks and sneaky campaign strategies.
Sprague is being accused by his vice president, Lorena Soto-Rios of "disrespect, abuse of my space, and my agenda." At the same time, Soto-Rios is being accused by Sprague of not doing her job.
"Not once have I been able to rely on my vice president," Sprague said. "She is openly navigating against my policies."
But Soto-Rios said that last summer Sprague moved her out of the old vice president's office and put her into the president's office down the hall.
"He thought I would be satisfied with the nice furniture and shut up," Soto-Rios added, without touching on the real misunderstanding between her and her boss.
According to Sprague, the newly-formed judiciary committee had dibs on the old vice president office first, when over the summer Soto-Rios acquired a key, moved all of the judiciary's documents out and placed a lock on the door.
"Only when I contacted the facility manager to remove the lock by force and bill her for the expense did she move out," Sprague said, adding that she took the office's computer.
"I thought it was important that we were close by," Sprague continued. "I ended up giving her the bigger, better space."
Office space is the least of their problems, communication seems to be the key.
"We don't agree on a lot of things. He has his own vision and I have my own." Soto-Rios said, adding that while Sprague is more interested in the financial aspects of the corporation, she is primarily concerned with student's issues.
Sprague agreed that they disagree, saying, "We've had a difficult time piecing together our working relationship."
"She refuses to meet with me," he added. "The most we have communicated was when the (Gater) photographer came and took pictures of us together."
The gridlock between the top officials is so serious the vice president claims it's affecting not just her duties as a student leader, but her studies and even her personal life.
"It stresses me out. I want it over," she said.
According to Soto-Rios, she makes sure that she is with someone when she meets Sprague as a witness to counterattacks. "Whether it's my husband or a friend, I make sure I have somebody to tell the truth when I have to deal with him."
"She's scared (of me)," Sprague said.
Soto-Rios is not the only one in the higher echelons disappointed by what Sprague has turned out to be. Blossom Barnes was appointed by Sprague to the corporate secretary position and served on the Associate Student's board of directors over the summer.
But Barnes said her tenure was short-lived when Sam Levi was appointed to replace her without any communication from Sprague.
Accusing him of misconduct in her removal, Barnes said Sprague abused the corporation's constitution by refusing to follow the right procedures terminating her position.
Barnes said that not only was she absent from the meeting to terminate her, but Sprague never even hinted that her position could be in jeopardy. Also, there was no disciplinary action taken against her for not doing her job.
She said she was replaced by Sam Levi, because he is loyal and votes according to Sprague, noting that the reasons she was given for her termination were that she wasn't enrolled in summer session, she did not do the assignments and that Sprague felt she was "black-voting," which is always siding for the benefit of black students and concerned with black student issues.
"If you think differently, he uses intimidation. If you're not voting his way, you're a waste of his time," Barnes said. "He is very much like Kenyan McCarthy Carter (Sprague's predecessor). Kenyan did whatever he wanted in your face. I'd rather have someone like him."
Sprague responded to the termination of Barnes by saying that it was a bad decision on his part to appoint her to the corporate secretary post.
"She didn't do the assignment she was hired for and Sam Levi does it so well," he explained.
Troy Buckner-Nkrumah, who ran for president in 1995, disagrees with Barnes to a certain extent.
"The board (of Directors) is diversified and is not for the interest of themselves but for that of the students. Priority is back to the students," he said.
However disappointed Barnes is, and no matter how distrustful she is about Sprague's administration, she has hopes that they're going to carry it through.
"It'll take more than one board meeting to solve all the issues that piled up in the summer. We made promises and I'm hoping we're gonna' carry it through. I hope we can pass over the personal problems, the bickering and move on," she said.
Downplaying the political quagmire that is haunting the Associated Students, Sprague outlined the goals he has for this year. He wants to strengthen internal documents of the corporation and student government, which he said are in conflict with one another and haven't been reviewed for almost a decade.
He is also trying to initiate touch-tone voting so more students can participate in the voting process. He also said he wants to look at ways to increase revenue without increasing student fees.
[ Golden Gater Online September 5, 1996 ]
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