Katelyn Hummel
Staff Writer

Former Student Government President Nicole Ortega resigned on May 1, shortly after being informed that she was going to be impeached by the Student Government.

Nicole was inducted into office at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year and served as President until her resignation.

Student Government compiled articles of impeachment with a list of student and  student government complaints against Ortega, which are publicly available in Human Resources. Alleged offenses included “misuse of office,” “misconduct in school,” and “failure to fulfill duties in the office.”

The articles of impeachment mentioned Ortega’s violation of the ASPC-FS Constitution, the Rules and Regulations school handbook, and the Performance Agreement signed by Student Life members. The articles also claimed that she would often be on Facebook or performing non-work related activities during office hours, would be late or absent  to meetings and events, and was often unwilling or uncooperative.

“It [the issue] is something that has been going on since probably the beginning of the year,” said current Student Government President, Theresa Carr.” It’s been in progress. It’s been addressed several times by the administration here. They’ve mediated, they’ve worked with us to try to solve the problem.”

However, the issues seemed to be unresolvable as Ortega received an email stating that she would be impeached.

“We’re not saying she’s not a good person because she is, she’s a nice person, but we have a civic duty to our students,” Carr said. “We are elected by our peers to serve in a position, and if you falsify that you’re places you are not, how is that in better light for our students?”

Ortega, however, feels that the impeachment process was unfair and unjust and wishes that the issues at hand were approached differently.

She was informed that a student had requested a petition to have her impeached and that the student already had the 60 signatures needed to start the process.

“I wouldn’t be able to be told who the student was or what the student’s gripe with me was until they turned in the petition officially,” Ortega said. “I can probably name about five students who don’t like me, but I don’t think I can name 60.”

“As far as I know, there is no student and no petition, and whether there is or not I don’t know. Whether they were just sparing the student, I don’t know,” Ortega said.

In the email, Ortega wasn’t given any specifics about the claims against her, and according to the Constitution, Student Government did not have to inform her until the hearing. Ortega stated that at the hearing, she would be told the claims against her and would then have to defend herself on the spot.

Ortega was given an account of the claims against her 24 hours prior to the hearing, according to Carr.

After reading it over, Ortega stated that she could understand some of the complaints, but expressed that she thought her team had things under control and didn’t need her as frequently. She also relayed that she didn’t attend all of the activity planning meetings because some were meetings that ran from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.

The former president wishes that complaints were expressed sooner so they could have been addressed before things escalated to impeachment.

“The same people that want me gone are now the jury,” Ortega said about the impeachment process. “So did it really matter what I said in that hearing?”
Ortega spoke with multiple people who all advised that she resign because as she said, it was “not a fight I could win.”

She expresses that she doesn’t hold anything against Student Life as she understands that they felt they did what was needed to be done. Carr and Student Relations Senator Cami Okins expressed similarly positive sentiments that conveyed no ill feelings toward Nicole Ortega.

“I’ve developed, Michaela [Beaulieu, senator] has blossomed, Victoria [Vo, senator] is so social, and that wouldn’t have happened if [Ortega] hadn’t been there,” Carr said.

“I know Nicole has big dreams for her future and I hope she succeeds just fine,” added Okins.