After speculation among Student Government officials about a possible bill to impeach Student Body President Bobby Mills last week, five senators filed a bill Monday to censure him.
Student Senate President Greg Doucette denied concrete knowledge of an impeachment bill in an intereview last week and said its creation was “a bunch of rumors.” But he confirmed Monday evening that he was present while senators discussed impeaching Mills.
“I know that it was something that was discussed with members of the Senate after Saturday’s [Oct. 27, Association of Student Governments] meeting,” Doucette, a senior in computer science, said.
According to Doucette, first-term Sen. Josh Poteat said the Senate needed to impeach Mills after he suggested that the ASG General Assembly be disbanded temporarily. The General Assembly is the only statewide governing student body for North Carolina public colleges and universities.
But, Poteat, a freshman in First Year College, denied any discussion of impeachment.
Although Doucette said the senators did not actually write the impeachment bill, he said they did discuss it.
According to Doucette, several senators approached him about the bill before filing it, and he suggested that the bill be toned down to a censure rather than impeachment. This censure is legislation to publicly reprimand Mills.
“A censure is a fairly weak punitive measure,” Doucette said.
Poteat, first-term senators Maritza Adonis and Tony Howard, and senators Brandon McPherson and Robert Waldrup sponsored the bill.
Adonis, a freshman in communication, denied knowledge of the bill originating from the idea of impeachment, despite Doucette’s claim that she was present during the impeachment discussion after the ASG meeting.
According to Adonis, McPherson approached her about signing the bill.
“The whole purpose of the bill was to say ‘pull your act together,'” she said.
Howard, a senior in political science and philosophy, said he thought McPherson wrote the bill and said Doucette looked over the bill’s language before it was filed.
Doucette, however, said he did not have a role in writing the bill.
Both McPherson and Waldrup did not return phone calls on Monday and Tuesday requesting comment.
Howard said he was optimistic about the bill.
“It’ll be a battle, but once the senators realize it is not an impeachment … I think it will pass,” he said.
Mills, a senior in political science and economics, said the censure bill will not change the way he operates his administration.
“Some people don’t like my approach,” Mills said. “I’m very much student-centered.”
He said a censure bill is like a political slap on the wrist.
Although Mills said he originally heard it would be an impeachment bill, the change to a censure does not change his perception of its importance.
“It really hasn’t been a thought on my mind,” he said. “I ran for student body president because I love the student body.”
Mills said there are no grounds for his censure or impeachment, especially since the bill is more about his approach than his performance.
According to Mills, none of the sponsors have come to him with any of the concerns they listed in the bill.
He said his suggestion to disband the ASG General Assembly was because he did not think it was properly using student fees or accomplishing its goals.
Disbanding it, he said, would save N.C. State students about $32,000 in student fees. Mills said those officials supporting the ASG General Assembly are supporting a body that does not benefit students.
Mills also said he thinks some Student Government officials have their priorities misaligned because they pledged their support for the previous ASG president Cole Jones. Jones resigned due to pressure from the UNC System General Administration after he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.
