Seven of the 12 members of the Student Assembly Executive Committee issued a statement last night claiming they will move to remove Assembly President Nicole Artzer '94 at tonight's meeting if she does not resign by 8 p.m.
Artzer said she has no intention to resign.
If Artzer is removed, Assembly Vice President Steve Costalas '94 will become president and the Assembly will internally elect a new vice president, according to the Constitution of the Student Assembly, Secretary Grant Bosse '94 said. Bosse also chairs the Committee on Procedures.
In order to remove a president, the Assembly Constitution requires a two-thirds approval by those present at the proceedings, Bosse said. The Assembly currently has 42 members.
In a statement released to The Dartmouth yesterday, seven members of the Executive Committee stated that they feel the Student Assembly cannot be a productive organization under the leadership of Artzer.
In addition to Costalas and Bosse, the statement was signed by Treasurer John Steiner '94; Matthew Berry '94 and Mark Waterstraat '94, co-chairs of the Nominations Committee; Alexandra Morgan '95, co-chair of the Communications Committee; and Kenji Sugahara '95, co-chair of the Administrative Affairs Committee.
Five of the seven are members of Reform SA, A group of students who won 15 of the 21 at-large Assembly seats in the spring election running on an anti-incumbency platform.
"I've never before worked in my life with someone who has been as incompetent as Nicole," Waterstraat said.
The demand for Artzer's resignation was prompted by her recent attempt to undermine the Student Assembly-sponsored boycott of Dartmouth Dining Services on Feb. 16, the letter stated.
The group wrote that Director of College Dining Services Pete Napolitano canceled a meeting with members of the Executive Committee last week upon Artzer's request.
Napolitano said he did not schedule a meeting with Costalas or any other members of the Assembly last week because he believed Artzer should be at all meetings involving the boycott issue.
"I didn't feel it was prudent to meet with other factions of the Student Assembly while there is an appointed representative," Napolitano said, referring Nina Nho '97, the Assembly's Dining Services liaison.
"Unless Nicole is present, there should be no meetings," Napolitano said.
A group of Assembly members, including Artzer and some of those who signed the statement, plan to meet with Napolitano this morning.
The group wrote that Artzer encouraged Napolitano not to meet with Costalas because she disagreed with the boycott. But Artzer said the statement's accusation that she instructed Napolitano to cancel the meeting is untrue.
"I did not try to sabotage the efforts of the Student Assembly," Artzer said.
According to the statement, Artzer introduced the idea of her own impeachment at the Sunday night Executive Committee meeting and she also said her actions regarding DDS were grounds for impeachment.
"Artzer asserted that if the Assembly did not like what she was doing, she should be impeached," the group wrote. "She admitted that her activities were grounds for impeachment and dared the Executive Committee to foster the votes necessary to remove her from office."
But Artzer said the group's allegations are false.
"They brought out the idea of impeachment first. At no time did I say, 'Impeach me'," Artzer said. She said her primary responsibility is to the people that elected her last spring.
"Usually impeachment comes when something egregious has been done - like embezzlement," said Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia, the Assembly's advisor.
Some Assembly members said if an impeachment motion is introduced, it will be a close vote. If all 42 members attend the meeting, 28 will have to approve the impeachment for the motion to pass.
In a spot poll of 27 Assembly members taken by The Dartmouth last night, eight said they would vote not to impeach, 10 said they would vote to impeach, five said they would abstain and four said they are undecided. Most of those surveyed had not yet read the statement made by the seven Executive Committee members.
If the actual votes are consistent with the poll, only two more abstentions or no votes are needed to prevent Artzer's removal.
"I think you will see a majority of the Assembly resign if Nicole is not impeached," Waterstraat said.
Following the Executive Committee meeting Sunday night, Artzer attempted to cancel tonight's meeting in order to avoid a potential impeachment motion, according to the statement. Costalas , who also serves as the Assembly's parliamentarian, ruled the action unconstitutional.
