At Wednesday’s student senate meeting, senators introduced and voted with a majority to advance impeachment proceedings against St. Edward’s Hall senator Michael Heffernan. An impeachment hearing against the senator will be held Sept. 17.
Student government’s Ethics Council accused Heffernan of violating section 4.4 of the student senate bylaws, which state, in part, “attendance at meetings of the full Senate is mandatory for Senate members.” The bylaws also note that permission for an absence must be obtained from the chairperson, and that voting members may have no more than six absences during their term.
According to judicial council president Elijah Jones, Heffernan has missed seven senate meetings during this term.
To Heffernan, whose appearance at Wednesday’s meeting was the first of his term, his lackluster attendance record was a deliberate part of the pledge he made to St. Edward’s Hall residents.
“I ran on a campaign of not attending any senate meetings. That was my campaign, and I’ve had zero negative comments from anyone in my dorm. Everyone expressed full satisfaction,” Heffernan told The Observer prior to the proceedings. “I was just giving them the choice. I think in any free democratic society, people get to choose who governs them. I just wanted to present the option that, you know, maybe you don't want anyone to go to the senate meetings.”
Jones shared details from an earlier Ethics Council hearing with Heffernan at the senate meeting, including that Heffernan told him he had decided not to attend senate meetings after pitching the idea in a GroupMe message to his constituents, which received what the Ethics Council report claimed to be 25 to 30 upvotes from St. Edward’s Hall residents.
He then made a lack of attendance part of his official platform while running for senate, a race he ultimately won. Heffernan defended his decision to fulfill what he considered a core campaign promise.
“There were other people running. It wasn't a single-party race. I was just giving people the option, and they chose me,” Heffernan told The Observer. “So I've been living by my promises until today, because today I wanted to ask the Senate to respect the right of St. Edward’s Hall to govern itself and choose its own leaders.”
As the session began, confusion circled among senators surrounding appropriate parliamentary procedure. Multiple times throughout the meeting, Senate Parliamentarian Sam Robinson had to reiterate the purpose of the meeting.
“So to clarify… we're not considering the question of removal from the Senate,” Robinson said. “Today, we’re only considering whether the evidence presented by the Student Union Ethics Council, and their reasoning, is sufficient to advance to [an impeachment] hearing, which would take place at the next meeting this upcoming Wednesday.”
Despite Robinson’s clarification, several senators were still frustrated with their inability to question Heffernan directly during questioning or debate periods, as such action would have been against parliamentary procedure.
Max Barton, proxying for Carroll Hall senator Charlie Bacon, expressed his belief that it would be “catastrophic” if “vital information was not given to [the Senate] before coming to a decision.”
Robinson responded that if an impeachment hearing were to take place, it would offer ample opportunity for Heffernan to share his side of the story and provide a defense. He also acknowledged the senators’ shared concerns, emphasizing that his commitment to procedure was not meant to suppress valuable information.
“Again, Michael would be more than welcome if this proceeds next week to talk about any evidence or clarify his own views,” Robinson said. “This is by no means a way of silencing anyone or anything like that.”
After a reading of the ethics council report and time for questions from senators regarding the report, the senate body entered into debate. Typically, accused senators exit the chamber during this period, but Heffernan elected to remain.
Throughout the debate period, senators expressed conflicting opinions on whether to move forward with an impeachment hearing.
With her time, Welsh Family Hall senator Z Zavala urged the chamber to move forward with the proceedings. “I think it’s very clear to remember that senator Heffernan has missed up to seven senate meetings already without a genuine reason,” Zavala said. “We’ve made a sacrifice to be here every single Wednesday on time. The evidence is, indeed, that he hasn’t been here, which is against our bylaws and constitution. He missed the days; we should go into actual impeachment proceedings to discuss why this happened.”
Debate also arose over whether Heffernan was truly representing the will of the majority of his constituents. St. Edward’s Hall is home to 170 students, and several senators argued that 25 to 30 upvotes on a GroupMe message does not adequately represent the interests of the dorm as a whole. Based on the justification Heffernan provided to the Ethics Council, this would indicate less than a fifth of the St. Edward’s Hall residents openly approve of Heffernan’s continued absence from senate meetings.
Heffernan responded to these allegations during the meeting, defending his popular mandate.
“Just to clarify, the 25 to 30 number, I don't believe is fully accurate. I haven't met a single person who told me to go to the meetings. I made it well known that my intention was not to go to the meetings,” Heffernan said. “That was my campaign promise, and I won. [My constituents] made it clear they don't want me to go, and I'm just a servant of their will.”
It was at this point that Barton stood up and addressed the chamber. Though only a proxy, Barton gave a speech defending Heffernan’s actions, claiming that the Ethics Council report was “one-sided” and “not enough evidence to go to a hearing whatsoever.” Barton argued that Heffernan could not abide by the senate bylaws while also fulfilling the campaign promises made to his constituents, concluding that he “did not see anything fundamentally wrong with [Heffernan’s absence].” Raising his arms into the air as he spoke, Barton implored the senate to vote down the motion for an impeachment hearing, describing it as “frivolous,” “pointless” and “entirely unnecessary.”
“The Ethics Council wants to put in place somebody who would attend senate meetings, even when the majority of the constituents would rather he not. Is that the will of democracy?” Barton asked the chamber. “Is it the will of democracy to tear somebody down for the sake of putting somebody into place — a puppet? Of course that is not democracy. That is not the spirit of this student union. The spirit of this student union is the democracy that also makes up this nation.”
The senate then moved into a formal vote. Despite Barton’s efforts, they ultimately voted to proceed with an impeachment hearing, considering the evidence presented by the ethics council against senator Heffernan as sufficient to warrant further inquiry.
As the senate adjourned, student body vice president Sonia Lumley provided her thoughts on the day’s proceedings. “We definitely did a good job today in the questioning portion and debate,” Lumley said. “Everybody, every senator, did a pretty good job going off the evidence. I really appreciate everybody coming in today. Next week should be interesting.”
When asked about Heffernan’s stance on senate attendance, Lumley was critical, stressing its importance in properly representing constituents.
“As a senator, he's supposed to represent his hall,” Lumley said. “So what I can say is, whatever his constituency wanted, then that’s what they wanted. That’s okay, but if not, it’s the opposite way. It’s up to the senators to decipher that in themselves, and that will be done at the hearing next week.”
