On Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, ASBSU adjourned their regular session meeting and announced Sean Masi’s removal, according to anonymous sources.
Masi has been removed from the ASBSU website, is not on the ASBSU campus groups website or listed as a member of ASBSU on campus groups.
According to the Reporters Committee regarding Idaho’s Open Meeting Law, meetings of a governing body of a public agency in Idaho are “open to the public and all persons shall be permitted to attend.”
A governing body is defined as two or more members of any public agency that have the control to make decisions to a public agency on any matter. In addition, the law states that the idea of public and persons don’t differentiate between citizens or journalists.
According to Mike Hiestand, a lawyer from The Student Press Law Center, ASBSU should fall under open meeting law as a public institution that is responsible for the allocation of public funds.
While the issue of student governments falling under open meeting law in Idaho has not been settled through litigation, Heistand said there is a “strong argument” that ASBSU is beholden to open meeting law.
Article VII, Section Five of the ASBSU Constitution states that impeachment hearings are to occur during open meetings for the public view. As an appointed position, the president has the right to remove the Government Relations Officer.
ASBSU President Isaac Celedon has declined to comment on the record. Other members of the ASBSU Executive Cabinet have not yet responded to a request for comment about why Masi was removed and why they closed the meeting.
Governing body’s that wish to have a closed special meeting must give a minimum 24-hours notice and publish an agenda that specifies the meeting’s topic. ASBSU did not give 24-hours notice about the closed meeting or the topic of discussion.
An anonymous source confirmed with The Arbiter that ASBSU adjourned Monday’s meeting and stated that everyone who wasn’t a standing member on the executive committee or general assembly was asked to leave, including spectators and a reporter from The Arbiter. The Arbiter asked to stay in the meeting and Associate Vice President of Inclusive Excellence, Diego Tapia, explicitly told The Arbiter to leave the meeting.
The anonymous source added that during the ASBSU meeting, executive members announced Masi’s removal from his position as head of Government Relations board, more than three weeks after Masi was appointed Government Relations Officer.
At this time, The Arbiter doesn’t have any additional details as to why Masi was removed.
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While code violations within ASBSU have become commonplace, violating state law is a serious escalation in the severity of the corruption we’ve come to expect from the organization.