THE CHOICE of Student Council Vice President of Organization (VPO) is an important one. The position is entrusted with almost $600,000 in student tuition, in the form of the Student Activity Fund, which it doles out to CIOs. The two candidates, Colin Hood, Student Council Safety and Wellness Vice-Chair, and current Appropriations Committee Co-Chair Brendan Whittington, are both thoughtful and responsible, and either of them would be able to carry out the basic duties of the position. Hopefully the following information from research and candidate interviews will help students decide for themselves who would be best suited for the job.
Colin Hood’s argument for why he is the best candidate is that the VPO does more than just appropriations. While he acknowledged the importance of appropriations to CIOs who depend on that money for their operation, he lamented the fact that, in the past, the VPO had been merely “a third appropriations co-chair.” Hood’s vision extends beyond this, as he believes increasing the connection with CIOs is key. Hood wants to reach out and encourage CIOs to come to the VPO, who is the “easiest person to have that quick access to the administration to fix things for them.”
He also cites the nascent CIO Consultant program, which was intended to replace the bygone Leadership Consultants, as an important piece of this change. Hood’s plan would be to “restructure it so each CIO consultant is personally assigned 20 or 30 CIOs” and each consultant would be responsible for giving advice to their constituent CIOs. He also would have these consultants assist in the appropriations process, making them available to review CIO budgets and “help them write efficient budgets” that will allow the clubs to go through their appropriations hearings smoothly. With the Leadership Consultants program discontinued and the CIO Consultants replacement not fully implemented, Hood says, if he was running a CIO under the current system, “I don’t know who I would go to.”
Another area where Hood hopes to make improvements is the fall semester activities fair. He wants to “really show off the University,” incorporating student group performances and greater Charlottesville community involvement.
Even though he has no Appropriations Committee experience, Hood has a unique outlook on the appropriations process, perhaps the most visible of the VPO’s duties. He has never been a member of the Appropriations Committee, so all the hearings he has attended have been on behalf of CIOs. Perhaps for this reason, he is strongly against the 61% across-the-board budget cuts levied against all CIOs who applied for funding at the end of the fall semester.
On a YouTube video posted for Hood’s campaign, the words “No more budget cuts,” flash in front of a picture of the Rotunda. His opponent claims this amounts to a promise that Hood will eliminate all budget cuts, a dubious claim to be sure. For his part, Hood says, “I think that no budget cuts is something we have to go for. I apologize if people take that as a direct promise of something that is going to happen right now, because it is not.” Yet, he says, it is “something that we can achieve” through a combination of supply-increasing and demand-reducing changes. Hood also hopes to get more funding from the Board of Visitors, although he does not advocate for raising the student activity fee. To reduce demand for appropriations money, Hood hopes to find an array of alternative sources of funding for CIOs, and he wants to make more line-item cuts of specific extraneous requests.
Hood is a compelling candidate. He has experience running a CIO as founder of Hoos Ready, which gives him a unique perspective into how the VPO should help clubs. He is both articulate and friendly and seems eager to undertake all aspects of the position. Some voters will also see his holistic vision of the VPO as something other than a “third appropriations co-chair” as a boon.
Hood does have some negatives however. He is clearly the less experienced candidate, and his knowledge of certain areas of the VPO’s duties leaves something to be desired. He was less than fully informed about the Board of Audit Management and how much money certain clubs currently receive. Some also take issue with the “no budget cuts” platform, which even Hood admits is not a realistic goal for his term.
Brendan Whittington, on the other hand, is a candidate who will appeal to those who believe appropriations experience is the most important qualifier for the office of VPO. Whittington has served on the Appropriations Committee for two years, this past year as co-chair of that committee. This experience has given him some strong opinions about Appropriations and the role of VPO.
To start with, Whittington takes issue with Hood’s stance on across-the-board budget cuts, calling it “ridiculous.” Whittington says, “I don’t think that will ever happen,” instead setting his own goal of lowering the across-the-board cuts to “20 or 15 percent.” He also says the cuts “might even be healthy,” since they force CIOs to commit their own funds to the projects and events they propose. His experience with Council’s side of the process is unparalleled, as he estimates he has sat in on “over 100, maybe 150” appropriations hearings, although he has never experienced appropriations from a CIO’s point of view.
From his experience, Whittington has put together a four-point plan to address other appropriations issues. He wants to institute “Marketplace UVA,” a Web site where CIOs could lend out their assets and equipment free of change to other CIOs and would be rewarded with a credit that would reduce the across-the-board cut the lending CIO would be subject to during subsequent appropriations. He would also change the appropriations formula to create incentives for CIOs to fundraise, ending the current practice where every dollar raised is equal to a dollar reduction in their appropriation. Additionally, Whittington wants to “reactivate” the CIO Consultant program and the Board of Audit Management. The Board of Audit Management would be tasked with tracking CIO assets and ensuring CIOs report accurate information during the Appropriations process. Lastly, Whittington wants to form a committee of Student Council and CIO representatives to rewrite the Treasurer’s Manual which governs and explains the appropriations process.
Whittington’s experience is clearly his greatest asset, but the detail of his plans for next year are admirable as well. He is authoritative, confident and passionate, all of which would be beneficial to anyone serving in this type of leadership position. He is also realistic, hesitant to make any promise that he does not fully believe is capable of being carried out within his one-year term.
His candidacy does have three main drawbacks, however. First, his experience is entirely from the side of the Appropriations Committee, limiting his understanding of how the process works for CIOs. Second, Whittington has a somewhat undemocratic view of appropriations, saying unapologetically that the Appropriations Committee is “semi-autonomous” from the elected Student Council body. Lastly, he has already committed University Board of Elections campaign expenditure violations by failing to report his campaign spending within the required 24-hour period.
Comparing these two candidates side-by-side, there is no obvious choice for who should become the next VPO. Students need to consider carefully what they want from the next Council VPO.
Isaac Wood is an associate editor for the Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at i.woot@cavalierdaily.com.
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