Students of the University of Houston-Downtown, I ask you to join me in an effort to recall the current president of the UH-Downtown Student Government Association, Laura Sanchez. Despite fairly winning an election in the Spring of 2009, Sanchez has decided to unfairly dismantle the governing rules of the SGA. Over the summer she, along with the other elected officers of the group, appointed Jaime Puente to the vacant Executive Secretary position. After a summer inactivity, Sanchez decided to replace him for purely personal reasons. Her choice of replacements included her sister Mayra Sanchez. While the replacement of a non-elected officer is within her rights as the sitting president(if that person has not be sworn in by a standing Senate), her blatant nepotism goes against the rules of any democratic body. This situation was never discussed or contested because the state of the SGA has been in peril for several years. Lack of student involvement has hurt the SGA's ability to be real advocates for student success at UH-D, and contesting this issue would have been very bad publicity.

Unfortunately, this has happened again. Laura Sanchez has begun her efforts to remove the elected Vice-President Nataura Brown from her position citing a "lack of communication" between the two senior officers. Ms. Brown's reputation at UH-D as a voice and proud advocate for the student body is unmatched, and her professionalism has afforded her the opportunity to work with several local elected officials in city hall. Ms. Brown has worked tirelessly to be the kind of student that promotes the absolute best of our school. That is why we are asking your support to force a recall election for the UH-Downtown SGA. Laura Sanchez does not, and cannot, represent the student body the way Nataura Brown can.

It is time that we as students take back control of our representative body. You may not believe this is important, but your student fees provide a stipend for every elected officer of the SGA. The President, VP, Treasurer, and Secretary, have access to over $35,000 of your student fees. How this money is spent is guided by the person at the top of the governing chain, and Laura Sanchez is not, and has not been, the proper steward of the money that should be making your life on campus better.

Please sign this petition and show your support for a more democratic student government.

Thank you,

UH-Downtown Students for a Better SGA

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