Former ASPSU Vice President Ethan Allen Smith has said that Adam Rahmlow should resign as ASPSU president after it surfaced that Rahmlow recently spent three days in jail for violating the terms of his probation, which stemmed from a prior conviction of resisting arrest.
“There’s no way that PSU athletes would be allowed to continue on the team if they spent time in jail during the season,” Smith said. “It’s absolutely amazing that Adam Rahmlow can keep his job just because he wants it, and that there is no automatic recourse for removing someone who was arrested while serving as a senator and spent time in jail while in office as president.”
Records indicate Rahmlow was booked into Multnomah County Jail on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, and discharged on Nov. 11, after he was convicted of violating the terms of his probation by traveling out of state without the permission of the court, as well as making dishonest statements to the court regarding that unauthorized travel.
“The dishonesty lies in the fact that I knew I needed permission,” Rahmlow said.
The ASPSU president also had his probation extended by one year following the recent arrest. It is the second time Rahmlow has been arrested while serving as a member of ASPSU; the first occurred during the summer of 2010 when Rahmlow, then an ASPSU senator, refused to leave the Dixie Tavern, where he had been drinking with friends. An altercation with police ensued. A jury convicted Rahmlow of resisting arrest.
Rahmlow declined the Vanguard’s request to be interviewed in person, but answered questions via email on Sunday, Nov. 20.
“I hope students still judge me on my actions as president,” Rahmlow said. “My past indiscretion does not prevent me from fulfilling my duties as president nor does it prevent me from continuing the great success of our ASPSU team.”
When asked to elaborate on the specific accomplishments of his administration, Rahmlow replied, “Our administration, as a team, has accomplished many great feats already this year. But, it would be difficult for me to summarize our achievements in such a short space. Please visit ASPSU’s main page for details.”
Rahmlow was reminded that there are no space limitations, but did not respond with further details.
Ethan Allen Smith said he is more concerned with what Rahmlow decides to do next.
“He should resign,” Smith said. “The position of ASPSU president is too important to leave to someone who could be in jail during negotiations over whether or not tuition will be increased next year. If he’s literally incapable of performing his duties—and he is if he’s in jail—he needs to step down. I would hope that he recognizes that the students are too important and that he should resign. If not, I would hope that the senate would realize that the student body is more important than the individual and impeach him, because it’s not about Adam—it’s about the students.”
The Associated Students of Oregon State University President Milikaleakona “Tonga” Hopoi was impeached and censured by the OSU student government senate on Tuesday, Nov. 1, on charges that she violated constitutional rules regarding ties with the Oregon Student Association, according to OSU Student Media.
The Oregon Student Association is a nonprofit group that lobbies the state legislature on behalf of Oregon students, primarily on issues of tuition.
According to Diane Saunders, Oregon University System director of communications, Senate Bill 242 requires that students be represented on tuition-setting committees that make recommendations on tuition increases. The ASPSU president is an automatic selection for the tuition-setting committee, whose seven student representatives make up the sum total of student input into the tuition-setting process. Tuition committee recommendations go to PSU President Wim Wiewel, who then makes a recommendation to the OUS Chancellor George Pernsteiner, which Pernsteiner then vets.
“I take substantive opinions from ASPSU with a great deal of seriousness,” President Wiewel said.
Both Wiewel and PSU Vice President Monica Rimai have said that a potential 7 percent tuition increase for 2012–13 will be actively discussed early in the new year.
Impeachment of the ASPSU president requires an investigation by the ASPSU judicial board, followed by an ASPSU senate-led trial. The senators who would conduct any such trial would have been appointed directly by the ASPSU president, according to Smith.
“The ASPSU president is the only person, constitutionally, who can appoint senators,” Smith said. “So what’s the vetting process and how will the senators hold him accountable when he breaks the law?”
Rahmlow nominated four senators on Nov. 8, 2011—the day before he began serving the sentence for violating the terms of his probation.
When asked to respond to the student-led movement for his recall, Rahmlow highlighted issues of greater concern for him.
“Student engagement in student government is a wonderful thing,” Rahmlow said. “But I think we can all agree that there are more pressing issues facing students in higher education which demand our attention…I have not found this personal matter to have any impact when advocating for students on the local and state level.”
Smith said that he strongly disagrees with Rahmlow’s assessment of the situation.
“This wasn’t a youthful indiscretion; this was a few months ago,” Smith said. “Adam Rahmlow already addressed the public about the multiple violations of the law that he’s responsible for, and he set his own bar that we should judge him by his actions. Even with the trust that the students gave him, he violated the trust of the students of Portland State to such a degree that he landed himself in jail again. We’re so far past the point of addressing the public that what Adam really needs to do is some serious soul searching for the correct way to resign.”
Smith lost last years election to Rahmlow, who took office after being cleared of violating campaign rules. Smith said that he did not have any ambitions to return to student politics, but as treasurer of Friends of Graphic Design he’s concerned that Rahmlow’s multiple arrests while serving in student government may tarnish the image of PSU and its programs, harming its ability to attract the best students from out of state, who will rely on Google searches for some of their research on universities.
On Monday, Nov. 14, Rahmlow visited the Vanguard office, asking to speak to the editor-in-chief. After giving a brief statement and engaging in several minutes of conversation while standing in the doorway of the Vanguard office, the editor-in-chief discovered that Rahmlow was tape recording the conversation. A small recording device was hidden beneath a single sheet of paper in Rahmlow’s hands. When informed of Oregon state law (legal statute 165.540 states that it is unlawful to “Obtain or attempt to obtain the whole or any part of a conversation by means of any device, contrivance, machine or apparatus, whether electrical, mechanical, manual or otherwise, if not all participants in the conversation are specifically informed that their conversation is being obtained”), Rahmlow said that he had been unaware of this law, and allowed the recording to be erased by the editor-in-chief.
In a subsequent email statement regarding the tape-recorded conversation, Rahmlow said that he did not know that the editor-in-chief was unaware the conversation was being recorded.
Ethan Allen Smith said that he believes the student body president of Oregon’s largest university should be held to a higher standard.
“We wouldn’t accept this from our mayor, we wouldn’t accept it from the quarterback of our football team,” Smith said. “Why would we accept it from our student body president? He does not have the luxury of spending one day in jail if he’s supposed to be at a negotiating table. The PSU student body cannot afford his mistakes.”