Student vice president resigns, senator appointed to replace

A new vice president for the Palomar College student government was appointed and sworn in after Justin Rios resigned.

The new vice president, Mario Gaspar, was appointed by Associated Student Government President Jason Hosfield, in which Gaspar accepted during an Oct. 29 ASG meeting.

Gaspar initially ran for vice president but lost in a 6-2 vote to Rios in the election on Sept. 24. All senators voted for Rios except Gaspar and Rios voted for Gaspar.

Rios officially resigned on Oct. 23 after serving only four weeks as the ASG vice president.

His reasons for resigning were for personal issues so he could “focus on life,” according to Hosfield.

He wished the ASG the best of the luck, Hosfield added. However, Rios did not say goodbye to all of his fellow senators during the Oct. 29 meeting, which was the first meeting since his resignation.

His main goal he wanted to accomplish this year as vice president was to update the current veteran memorial or build a new one. The ASG still might consider this one their goals.

With the loss of a member, the ASG now has eight senator seats available.

The main goal this year for ASG is to recruit more senators and delegates to fill the entire government. Hosfield has continued to recruit throughout the semester, but since Sept. 24 there have been no more confirmation of seats filled.

Rios did not comment.