By Yohana Gebre

A runoff election for the presidency of the Associated Students of Laney College (ASLC) will be held on Monday, April 23, between Dagnachew “Dag” Sibhat and Richard “Richie” Garcia, Jr.

Sibhat received 107 votes out of the 253 cast, while Garcia got 75 in the elections held April 10–11. Laura Bloom received 70 votes and just missed the runoff.

Since no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, the runoff became necessary.

(Editors’ note: The vote tallies were derived by The Laney Tower from the candidates’ percentages obtained from the ASLC advisor. No actual vote tallies were available at press time.)

The percentages: Sibhat 42.54 percent; Garcia 29.83 percent; and Bloom 27.62 percent.

Gary Albury, director of student activities and campus life, said this was the first time he had seen this situation occur.

The procedure for the runoff election is this: Laney students will receive a runoff ballot in their Peralta email address or they can vote in person on election day between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at tables that will be located just inside the Student Center entrance.

Sibhat said he decided to run because he felt that the ASLC was disorganized and he felt he could unify the system. He said student voices are not heard and, under a specific vision and goal, the ASLC can really help students.

“It isn’t the lack of money. It is the lack of priority,” he said. He believes that he can get things done by focusing on his goals, which are to improve campus life, improve facilities on campus, and increase employment opportunities for students.

Garcia said he wants to become president because current ASLC council members and ASLC president, Keith Welch, have inspired him and he wants to continue putting students’ needs first. His goals for ASLC are to focus on student safety, student homelessness, student food insecurity, and provide microaggression awareness training for staff and faculty.

“I saw what he (Welch) did and I want to make sure that his work lives on. The students come first,” Garcia said.

Bloom now hopes to retain her current position as ASLC publicity commissioner. To do so, she must be reappointed by the new president.

Bloom was inspired to run for ASLC president herself, she said, after her proposals that asked the ASLC for money and club items (such as T-shirts) for the culinary arts club were repeatedly rejected. She wants to change the ASLC so there is less internal conflict and it functions as a unit.

Current ASLC President Keith Welch plans on training the new elected candidates on their positions by hosting an orientation week and hands-on training. The training is aimed to make sure the candidates can write proposals, allocate different funds to clubs, and manage the ASLC’s events and budget.

Welch didn’t receive any training when he entered his position and doesn’t want the new candidates to learn on the job like he did. He said orientation will be sometime in early May.

Yohana Gebre is a Tower staff writer