The Senate Review Board (SRB), Student Government Association’s disciplinary board, had a hearing Wednesday that examined a complaint SGA President Darren Beckham made of Marinés Figueroa, SGA’s director of public relations.

Senate accepted the SRB’s unanimous recommendation to not take action against Figueroa with a vote of 20 to three.

The SRB, chaired by Organizational Oversight Chair Cassie Standley, had a hearing before the meeting where Beckham and Figueroa presented their cases.

Beckham’s complaint lists multiple reasons behind the request of removal, but ultimately cites an issue of trust. As a cabinet member, Figueroa is commissioned, by the legislative journal, to “advise and assist the president.”

“I felt like we could no longer have a good relationship based on trust,” Beckham said.

The “single largest issue in the complaint” was based on a drafted resolution that condemned Beckham’s decision to back a ticket. The draft was created without Beckham’s knowledge by Figueroa and former legislative director Andrew Longhofer, who has since resigned.

The draft came after Beckham announced to his cabinet the decision to back a candidate in the recent general election after publically announcing his neutrality.

“I was really concerned by that,” Longhofer said. “Changing your mind in that kind of situation…makes it very difficult for anyone in the executive branch.”

Longhofer said Beckham’s decision to back a candidate, while legal by SGA’s legislative journal, would “unncessarily insert” the election into SGA business and create what Longhofer called a “public relations threat.”

“It was about the decision to reverse a public decision that he had made,” Figueroa said. “It makes him look unprepared, it makes the whole association look bad, and it makes the election look sketchy.”

Longhofer said he made attempts to contact Beckham to talk about the decision, but didn’t reach him to discuss his concerns until after the resolution was drafted. When he did reach Beckham, he had decided to change his mind again and maintain neutrality.

Beckham said he saw validity in picking a ticket, partially to prove that it was possible to pick a ticket and maintain order in the election. In the end, he understood the concerns of his cabinet. However, he said he felt “targeted personally” by the resolution.

The resolution condemned Beckham’s decision and would urge the Oversight and Inquiry Committee to investigate the reasons behind the decision and make a recommendation if further actions were needed.

In his complaint, Beckham said these actions “sought to actively and aggressively undermine [his] credibility and effectiveness as president.” Figueroa said it was less malicious than that.

“It just kind of suggested, ‘hey, people should look into this,'” Figueroa said of the resolution. “If there really was nothing wrong, like Darren was saying, no harm could come out of an investigation.”

Beckham said it was more about how the resolution was drafted without his knowledge.

“Because it was drafted by my staff…it really represented to me a lack of trust,” he said.

In February, due to this and other issues, Longhofer resigned. Figueroa decided not to resign.

“I resigned, partially because I didn’t feel like I would be effective in that role anymore,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a part of that hostile environment.”

Within the SRB hearing itself, Standley said the board looked at each piece of the journal that Beckham felt Figueroa had violated. These included not serving to advise and assist Beckham in her role in the president’s cabinet, failing to comply with the expectations of the legislative journal, and “violation of the standard of professionalism or respect for human dignity in the performance of her duties.”

Standley said the SRB decided unanimously that Figueroa had not violated any of the pieces. Some, including Beckham and legislative director Brandon James, feel that the SRB process was not “well-handled.”

The SRB hearing came more than a month after the actual issues took place due to scheduling issues. Figueroa also said she didn’t feel comfortable sending her response through Beckham due to his role as complainant.

Beckham said he submitted his complaint more than six weeks before the SRB took the case but didn’t receive Figueroa’s response until 10 minutes into the hearing.

“No one got to review this document before,” he said.

Most of the sitting members of the SRB removed themselves from the hearings as well. Standley, who was acting chair during the hearing, was the only original member of the SRB.

Beckham said the people hearing the case were not familiar with the situation and he was unprepared with witnesses because he was expecting the board to be more familiar.

James said that most of the SRB removing themselves from the hearings reflected a flaw in the journal. He said the only reason for a member to remove themselves is a real conflict of interest, which he felt didn’t exist.

James voted to not accept the SRB’s recommendation during senate.

“I didn’t feel like I was comfortable telling my constituents that I agree with this [decision],” he said.

Standley admitted that she was not trained or prepared to chair a hearing, but felt the decision the board reached was valid.

“I would assure you that everything we did was to keep a fair hearing,” she said. “I do believe that it was legitimate.”

Figueroa has submitted a counter complaint against Beckham for filing a frivolous complaint, violating the standards of professionalism and human dignity and “impeding the progress of any case for review.”

The hearing will take place Wednesday before SGA’s meeting.

“I’m not interested in pursuing it,” Beckham said. “[But] if other people continue to bring this up I will be forced to pursue a different ruling.”