Club affected by second executive order

McCann said that the club did plan to create mobile apps that it would sell, but he said an organization cannot profit from something that was funded by A&SF money.

At Thursday night’s Senate meeting, Gay, the Financial Allocations for Organizations committee chair, mentioned the executive order and the constitutional amendment he plans to write because of it.

According to Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of the Student Body of the University of Central Florida, the SGA president can withdraw the registration for a student organization but there is no mention of when doing so is appropriate.

Gay plans to write an amendment that would create more oversight for the process; the amendment is expected to be on first reading at the next Senate meeting on June 7.

Gay wasn’t the only one to speak out against the executive order. Sen. Nick Simons said it was a spiteful action with no justification and that if McCann were still president, he would try to impeach him.

“It’s just despicable and does nothing but harm the university,” Simons said.

After the first executive order was issued, a bill passed through Senate to define executive orders and when they should be used. McCann vetoed the bill, which did not receive the two-thirds majority vote required by Senate to overturn the veto.

Current SGA President Cortez Whatley was attorney general at the time the first executive order was written and was asked to provide his official opinion on the matter. He found that the executive order was constitutional, but in an addendum, he pointed out that executive orders should be used sparingly so the president doesn’t overstep his or her power.

Whatley believes that the SGA president should have the ability to issue executive orders because there is so much oversight involved in the position. He also said that the second executive order issued by McCann was within constitutional limits.

“In this instance, he wasn’t overstepping his power. It may have been a bit harsh but it was what that president thought was correct,” Whatley said. “Working with Matt and knowing his intentions, I know he thought it was in the best interest of students.”

Whatley said he’s not sure whether or not an instance will come up where he’ll need to issue an executive order.

Moving forward, the Mobile Innovation Club has changed its named to the Mobile Makers Club and plans to regain its RSO status. It already submitted a copy of its new constitution to OSI, and it hopes to once again be an RSO within the next three weeks.

As for the second allocation that was halted by the executive order, Szerlip isn’t sure if it will be processed or if the club will have to go back to the FAO committee to request the funds once again.

Forward said that once the club is functioning, it plans to host an all-day “hack-a-thon” where students would compete to create the best mobile apps, work with Orlando software companies to create internship opportunities and host demonstrations where students in the club can show off their projects.

In the future, Forward and Szerlip both hope that it’s easier for their club to function.

“I hope we don’t get the same runaround. I hope that A&SF starts to be a little bit more of an accounting office and a little bit less of a policy office,” Forward said. “I think that we’ll probably focus less on SGA and focus more on trying to make things happen ourselves so we don’t get sucked up and distracted in this sort of thing again.”

McCann also hopes for a shift in SGA policies in the future.

“It’d be nice to see student government get back to the raw issues of serving the students and not focusing on personal dislike,” he said.