After receiving congratulations and a round of applause from student senators, Corey Williams took a few steps toward the American flag in the University of North Florida Senate chambers.

Then he stopped.

After a 24-9-5 vote apparently confirming Williams into the Senate, he waited while Student Government Attorney General James Ross and Senate officials conferred outside on whether the five abstention votes Williams received would prevent his confirmation.

Photo by Richard O’Bryant Sen. Alex Koby stands at the Tuesday, Feb. 21, Senate meeting just after the ceiling beside him caved in. Several controversial decisions and appointments were made during the meeting.

Ross returned to announce that SG statutes did not provide for counting abstentions against the two-thirds majority vote candidates need to become senators. After a second vote of 25-9-4, Williams finished his walk to the flag and was sworn in.

Williams’ hearing was dominated by discussion of his comments regarding Student Body President Jerry Watterson at a Feb. 7 Senate meeting, at which he accused Watterson of deceiving the student body on the issue of a campus skate park.

“I thought that I was going to go in as a sacrificial lamb and just completely get destroyed,” Williams said of his bid for a seat in the Senate. “But it was important that I had the opportunity to speak not only my voice but that of the majority of the student body.”

Williams, who was accused at Monday’s Senate meeting by multiple senators and Watterson of personal attacks against the student body president, credited a speech given just before the first vote by Senate President Chas Jordan with aiding his appointment.

“I believe it had quite a bit to do with the decision of me getting in or not,” Williams said.

Jordan spoke following a recess called so a UNF physical facilities worker could remove part of a drop ceiling that almost fell on Sen. Matt Schmitt during the meeting.

After calling the Senate back to order, Jordan read from a Jan. 19 Spinnaker article in which Watterson was quoted as saying Jordan had stacked the Budget and Allocations Committee with senators he knew would vote against funding the skate park.

“I hadn’t planned to do it before I walked into the meeting, but when I noticed the effort that was being put into stopping his [Williams’] appointment, I felt I needed to take a stand,” Jordan said.

Jordan told senators he considered Watterson’s comments a personal attack, and, though the issue was resolved, it would be unfair to exclude Williams for attacking Watterson.

“That was me coming at a specific issue,” Watterson said about his comments on Jordan. “In my mind we needed to address my feeling at the time that he had stacked the committee. The attack was on the action, not him.”

Watterson said while he was disappointed with Williams’ appointment, he thought he could work effectively with him.

“I personally will endeavor to work with him and try to have as healthy a working relationship as we possibly can,” Watterson said.

Two other Senate nominees had less bumpy entrances into Student Government.

Kara Tokar, a junior English major, was appointed unanimously. Freshman nursing major Kelly Gismondi was confirmed by a 32-1-2 vote.

“I did SG in high school, which pretty much consisted of blowing up balloons,” Gismondi said. “I wanted something more advanced.”

Near the conclusion of the Feb. 21 meeting, a proposal to have students vote in April elections on whether to build a campus skate park was sent to the Student Advocacy Committee for discussion.

“I’ve considered the possibility of working on a repeal,” Jordan said. “But really, I think it’s going to come to a head when we have to discuss budget, staffing and other logistical issues other than the construction of the skate park.”

Ross said when the bill leaves SAC, it would return to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote would be needed to get the issue on the ballot.

He said a less likely possibility would be a petition signed by 20 percent of the student body that would allow students to vote on the skate park.

Earlier in the meeting, Jordan had apologized to Senate members for not opposing funding the skate park at the Feb. 7 meeting.

“I have the ability to turn over the gavel to the pro-temp if I want to discuss an issue,” Jordan said following the Feb. 21 meeting. “It kind of upset me later when I realized some of the points I could have made — information I know that most senators just don’t know.”

Watterson said it was time senators got past the skate park issue.

“If we stay focused on one issue and have petty fights after the issue is finished, we will never have significant progress,” Watterson said.

Also during the meeting, Sen. Matt Breidenstein announced he was resigning as Senate secretary. Breidenstein said he would continue to serve as a student senator.

Contact Anthony DeMatteo at spinnakernews@yahoo.com.