CSU Executive Team Bonuses for Last Year Revealed

Each Coordinator Received a 9.6 Per Cent Bonus

NewsVince Morello — Published October 4, 2016

“The consensus in the room was that the execs all worked hard, in different ways, and had all accomplished or tried very hard to accomplish things,” said former councillor Charles Gonsalves. “The bonus should reflect that.”

The councillors discussed the awarding of these bonuses during a closed session meeting on May 11, in which the executive team had left the room. Eleven out of 19 councillors attended the session, according to the official minutes from the meeting. Before council discussed the bonuses, the executive asked that every executive be awarded the same amount.

“In past years the board would try and figure out what percentage to give to each executive and that type of picking winners and losers didn’t fit with the way we try to operate,” said last year’s CSU General Coordinator, Terry Wilkings.

Both Wilkings and former External and Campaigns Coordinator Gabriel Velasco received a lesser amount because it was their second year on the executive team. This meant their work in the previous May was not counted, Wilkings said.

Councillors judged last year’s team on their ability to continue working on projects that mainly began before their mandate.

Reggie’s, the on-campus bar opened last year through the work of Lori Di Maria, the Internal and Clubs Coordinator. The team also prioritized the Safer Space Policy for Reggie’s, after public allegations that women’s drinks were drugged.

“You can never guarantee a safe space, but the point of the policy is just to ensure that there is a foundation from which all the actors involved can reference whenever these kinds of situations occur,” said Marcus Peters, current Loyola Coordinator, who was a councilor for both the CSU and ASFA at the time. The Hive Café also underwent renovations last year.

The student housing project started to see progress under last year’s executive team. The legal framework was created, and the Popular University Student Housing fund began. Then during the March 2015 CSU general elections, students approved moving $1.85 million to the PUSH fund for the housing project.

The team was also judged on their ability to start their own projects instead of being satisfied with what they were given.

“In the second year, Terry’s year, these projects were manifesting, they were coming to surface so we were judging them more on how they handled it,” said councillor Jason Poirier Lavoie.

Lavoie was also impressed with how the team consistently went to referendum to consult the students before dealing with some issues.

“The amount of extra effort they put into limiting themselves, and working within the structure of Concordia, thinking long term, it needs to be rewarded,” he added.

Anas Bouslikhane, the finance coordinator who resigned in late March received a bonus for the time he served. Current finance coordinator, Adrian Longinotti, who took over the position, also received a bonus for his time served in April and May.

The bonus matches the amount awarded to the previous executive team, which served from June 2014 until May 2015.