After competing with peers for the remaining Associated Student Government roles, five students prevailed and were welcomed to the panel at the conclusion of the meeting on Oct. 6.
“The journey from there to here was one that requires a lot of drive, a lot of ambition,” Isla Vista (IV) community representative Reemo Hooper said. “It was figuring out how to make the best of a bad situation and move forward in life.”
Hooper reflected that his qualifications for representative trace back to his youth. He was raised in south central Los Angeles, and was active in both the LA Mayor’s Youth Government and the YMCA youth government program, both of which have provided him with a foundation for understanding the inner workings of government.
As the IV representative, his starting focus is to improve the bus system. For students who rely on public transportation and live in Isla Vista, the commute to City College is lengthy and sometimes disorganized. According to Hooper, his first priority as a member of ASG is to put the effort towards making the student bus system more efficient and available for students residing in IV.
“I’m very passionate about bringing people together,” Elle Swing, commissioner of marketing, said.
Before the ASG, Swing took on the role of marketing for the dance program and found outreach to be one of her passions. Now, as a communications major, she says that she has found that everything is about passion and communication. As commissioner of marketing her first initiative is to create a Tik Tok account.
“Everyone our age is on [Tik Tok],” Swing said. She plans to draw interest to important school events by captivating the student audience on a platform that is heavily used by City College.
“I will bring passion to the table,” Swing said.“I know I have said passion 40 times, but I really do believe that it is the true way to capture people’s attention.”
The new commissioner of clubs, Vella Nam, strives to create connections with clubs at City College. She observed that clubs only reach out to ASG when in need of funding or for guidance in the beginning developmental stages. She wants to create more contact so that the clubs feel supported. In order to provide this extra support, Nam proposed initiating a mentor program that would be available to up-and-coming clubs for guidance as they get started.
“I have witnessed the potential [clubs] have in creating a sense of belonging, or personal growth or creating community,” Nam said.
Mathias Goeb was voted in as the commissioner of events with a three-two vote. Already having involved himself in ASG hosted events and meetings last year, Mathias claims he is well prepared to fully participate as a board member this semester.
“Student life at SBCC is incredibly valuable and you can achieve that by creating events,” Goeb said.
The new commissioner of fundraising, Henry Fiebert, proposed the idea of inviting guest speakers who belong to organizations that the ASG donates to, and have them speak at meetings about the organization so board members and the public are aware of where funds are being located. To raise money, he pitched the idea of holding raffle targets with incentivizing prizes.
The board will meet next week on Oct. 13 to conclude interviews for commissioner of sustainability and commissioner of accessibility, and meet for the first time with a full, completed panel.
