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A university police investigation found insufficient evidence against two undergraduate student government general representatives in a case of vandalism that allegedly occurred during runoff elections in spring.

The councilmembers will remain suspended from duty until the Judicial Board receives official documentation of the finding.

On the last day of the runoff elections for the Undergraduate Students Association Council, general representative candidates Anneli Villarin and Tommy Tseng were accused of vandalizing a Nation2Nation signboard advertising the group’s endorsement of a candidate running on an opposing slate.

To date, both Villarin and Tseng, who were elected to the position of general representative, deny involvement in any act of vandalism, and no witness has come forward publicly to testify about that specific event.

The accusation was not investigated fully by the Elections Board at the time because vandalism does not fall under the board’s jurisdiction, said Roy Samaan, E-Board chairman, adding that the case was referred to the dean of students and the UCPD.

The matter was not pursued further by the E-Board, and the dispute was never settled, which is problematic for all students involved, said Mark Belgen, chief justice of the judicial board.

“They have to follow up on it. … Just to refer – that’s not right,” Belgen said regarding his reasons for temporarily relieving Villarin and Tseng from duty despite the lack of concrete evidence against them.

“We never had to hear the details of whether or not they are guilty. We’re dealing with process,” Belgen added.

As for the J-Board’s request, Samaan said he followed up with the UCPD and the dean of students and found there was not sufficient evidence against the councilmembers.

“It turns out that nothing happened,” Samaan said, explaining that the UCPD did not find concrete evidence linking Villarin and Tseng to the vandalism and the case was not brought to the dean of students.

Unaffected by the E-Board’s findings, Villarin and Tseng are still not able to return to their duties. For the time being, the E-Board and the J-Board seem to have reached an impasse: Belgen maintains the J-Board cannot release the stay until it receives official documentation of the findings, but Samaan asserts that the E-Board is not able to procure such records.

“I’m not authorized to have that material released to me. … It’s really something that’s out of my power to provide,” Samaan said, adding that he had communicated this information to members of the J-Board.

But Belgen maintains that he needs the official documents before he can take further action on the case.

“We’re just waiting to see the reports. … All they need to do is give us these documents and (Villarin and Tseng) can start working,” Belgen said. “It’s pretty simple.”

As a result, the process is currently at a standstill: The J-Board is waiting to receive documents that the E-Board says it is unable to provide.

Villarin and Tseng have not yet been informed of the proceedings and are now just waiting to learn their status.

“I’ve been really out in the dark. I don’t know what the J-Board is doing,” Villarin said. Tseng said that the he has not been contacted “in any way, shape or form.”

The two councilmembers have stayed in touch and informed about USAC’s progress but have been unable to really begin work themselves, which they say will make their jobs more difficult when they get to work.

“It’s been a big hindrance,” Villarin said, listing preparation for the base budget, her work on the Budget Review Committee and putting together a staff for the Office of the General Representative as some of the areas in which the stay had impeded her work in office.

“It does affect to some level the work that I’ll be doing next year, and it does affect the programs,” Tseng said.

In particular, Tseng said he is hesitant to begin official work on the Student Labor Conference, which is a program that he had planned to begin working on immediately.

“I have been sort of active. I’ve been planning and thinking about programs and research and talking to people,” Tseng said, but he added that he was not able to do so in an official capacity as general representative, which made the work less productive.

Both are confident that the matter will be cleared up and they will be able to return to work.

“I do feel that I’ve been missing out … (but) I’ll be able to work really hard and catch up on what’s been going on,” Tseng said, and Villarin also said she believed that with an extra effort she would be able to make up for the lost time.

The J-Board is due to release an official statement of opinion on the case, which may lift the stay and allow Villarin and Tseng to return to work. 

The E-Board also plans to re-evaluate the situation and take action after the opinion is released, Samaan said, but for now there is nothing more it can do.

“We’ve done everything that we can do in regard to this matter. I don’t think there’s anything else we can possibly do at this time,” Samaan said.