Three of four fee levies rejected; People’s Potato gets go ahead

A proposal to increase student funding for the People’s Potato will appear on a referendum this spring, but motions to increase fee levies for CUTV and a potential student centre will not. CSU council rejected the motions on Feb. 19, along with one to create a fee levy to fund the Co-Op Bookstore.
Fee levies are per-credit surcharges added to student fees, which go to fund student organizations. They must be approved by a referendum.
“I’m disappointed in the decision the CSU council made,” said CUTV station manager Jason Gondziola. “I feel that it was short sighted and not in the best interests of Concordia students, both in our case and the Co-Op bookstore. It showed very little imagination on their part, in terms of imagining and supporting student organizations on campus.”
The motion was voted on twice at the meeting. First passing, before councillor Samantha Banks asked for a revote. The second vote, held by secret ballot failed.
“The whole proceedings around it seemed quite odd to me,” said Gondziola.
Councillor Louise Birdsell Bauer said she also had concerns about the vote. “The fact is that council was voting on whether or not to put the question on the ballot, not on their personal like or dislike of the organization.”
Gondziola said that without the levy, CUTV will be looking at cutbacks next year. “Something’s going to have to go.”
The motion to increase the People’s Potato levy didn’t even have to go to a council vote, after CSU president Keyana Kashfi added it to the referendum by presidential decree.
“The council had already voted on the People’s Potato question,” said Kashfi. The question had been scheduled to appear on the cancelled October referendum.
The People’s Potato is asking for an extra 10 cents a credit, which would bring their levy to 37 cents a credit. This increase would then be indexed to inflation.