Editor’s Note: Edward Kendall serves as the chair for Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation’s Board of Directors.

Colorado State University’s senate body considered experience within the Associated Students of CSU the determining factor in ratifying the nominees for chief of staff and the elections manager at their Wednesday night meeting.

Elections manager plans to clarify elections violations

The senate body ratified Associate Sen. Tyler Siri with a vote of 25-0-1 as the elections manager for the spring 2018 election season. Siri said he was on the elections committee for two years and was vice chair for one year.

Siri said he planned to clarify the elections code since violations were unclear.

“I want to work to make the violations really clear on what is or isn’t a violation, so we don’t have to spend a ton of time debating what is or isn’t a violation,” Siri said.

Siri said he would also specify write-in nominations, funding before and during campaigns, how much and what kind of funding can be used, which he said were gray areas that caused issues for campiagns.

New chief of staff seeks to resolve conflict

The senate body unanimously ratified Edward Kendall, the former clerk and director of community affairs for the Associated Students of CSU, into the position of chief of staff. The position was formerly held by Cole Wise, who was ratified last week as the student body vice president.

Wise said that he and President Michael Wells selected Kendall based off of his extensive experience in ASCSU. Kendall has been involved in the ASCSU Legislative and Executive Branches since the end of his freshman year. 

“Eddie has clearly proved his work in ASCSU and we are really excited to have him on board,” Wise said. “This is a position that means a lot to me personally, and I put all of our faith and trust in Eddie within the Executive Branch.”

Kendall said his position as the clerk allowed him to see the work senators and executive members did during the semester because his role was solely to transcribe minutes for senate and executive meetings.

“My mind was blown to see all the great things that we have been doing this year, so when I heard that there was this opportunity to really get into the mix of it and help those directors, deputies and assistants do what they do, I really couldn’t pass that,” Kendall said. “It’s something I really love doing, assisting other people (in) doing what they’re best at. It’s a lot of it for sure: trying to make Cole and Michael proud of what I do, proud of what executive does, but I’d like to take my best swing at it.”

Associate Sen. Jennifer Murray asked Kendall how he would improve the office environment following the impeachment of former President Josh Silva. Kendall said he would help people work through their conflicts, a skill he gained working as a resident assistant.

“People are on different sides of this issue,” Kendall said. “It’s a little bit uncomfortable to talk about, but it’s something that I, as a facilitator, am really looking forward to digging into and helping people feel comfortable doing what they do. I know that when they feel comfortable in this environment … that they can do good work.”

Collegian News Director Haley Candelario can be reached news@collegian.com or on Twitter @H_Candelario98.