The official posting of the election results came after the polls closed at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 24. With the total votes counted, the winners of the ASCC president and vice-president positions for the new academic year were announced.
Vice-president-elect, Caguioa, responded on his Facebook page, “To the amount of time we put into this great stride for change; to the countless amount of people, the dreamers that have supported, volunteered, campaigned and have advised with us; and to the amazing planning that went through all of this, I am proud to say that Miles L. Aiello and I will be taking on Cerritos College by storm! Dream. Plan. Change.”
With 513 votes, 60 percent of the total vote count of 854, Miles L. Aiello and Charles Caguioa will be the new Associated Students of Cerritos College president and vice-president of Cerritos College.
Aiello considered dropping from the race because of the ASCC Court’s decision to allow his opponent Aldemar Sanchez to continue to run for the office despite having an infraction during the application submission process.
According to the article, Sanchez permitted to run despite infraction, Sanchez failed to turn in his statement within the 24-hour window that is given after the candidate’s application is turned in, which would cause the application to be void.
In the article, Talk of bias looming in ASCC, Aiello said in response to the ruling, “It may look bad on his part or it may not, because of the support that he has in his little group. I feel like we are fighting a giant and the giant is huge compared to our size, in that we don’t have a fair shot.”
After the election ended, Dean of Student Services, Dr. Gilbert J. Contreras Jr., said, “It was a very exciting election. It was a lot of energy and it showed what students really cared about … the leadership.”
Contreras said, “I’m excited (about) the community (at Cerritos College). It says a lot about what the students care about. (As to) who’s going to lead, both sides did a fabulous job campaigning.”
“I would like to see next year more of the issues come out (in the campaigning) with a clean up of the processes,” he said.
Contreras reflected that the important issues for students could have been more said during the campaign. “They could have been more in the forefront,” he said. “With the Election Board having to get involved and make some ruling on some things (procedures), it would have gone smoother for both candidates.”
“I look forward to working with the Court, the Senate and the Cabinet and make improvements in the election process and advance leadership in students,” Contreras said.
The current ASCC Vice-president, Aldemar Sanchez, and his running mate, Dennis O. Garcia, received 348 student votes, 40 percent of the final tally.
