Nick Holmes sat on the executive board during the Associated Students of DVC meeting Tuesday for the first time since he was elected as the new vice president of legislative affairs the previous week.

Holmes beat out ASDVC board member Joanathan Lim in a 29 to 10 vote victory with 12 board members abstaining.

A third board member, Shifeng Jin, was nominated for the position, but withdrew shortly before the election.

This victory for Holmes comes after having lost for the position of vice president of executive affairs to Chang Min (Kevin) Park in last spring’s campus-wide election that drew only 626 voters out of the more than 20,000 students that attend DVC.

“I thought this position was crucial to take up,” Holmes said. “I thought this position needed some leadership.”

The position became vacant after Brian Donovan was forced to resign as the vice president of legislative affairs when he discovered his cumulative grade point average had dropped below ASDVC’s minimum standard of 2.0 for all board members, Donovan said.

Donovan, who became an Inquirer staff writer after leaving the ASDVC executive board, said he will continue to advocate for DVC students by participating in activism as part of the campus club, Students for a Democratic Society and by continuing to make his voice heard at ASDVC meeting s as a member of the public.

The vacancy left by Donovan was filled at an in-house election as per the rules set forth by the ASDVC Constitution which states, “No open election will take place to fill vacant positions.”

ASDVC adviser Yvonne Canada said that a majority vote is not needed for this type of election, “It’s simply whoever gets the most votes wins.”

In an Interview with The Inquirer prior to Tuesday’s ASDVC meeting, Holmes said he was excited about taking on this new position and plans to do more than the board members who held the position in the past.

“I want [a] committee with action, [a] committee that has action oriented solutions that can put some teeth on this organization,” Holmes said.

The vice president of legislative affairs’ position was only created a few years ago so ASDVC would have a board member who was dedicated to representing and advocating for DVC students at the local and statewide levels.

“It was really clear that we need to have a student who was focused on issues of representation,” Canada said.

Holmes said that although he has big goals for the coming school year, he plans to start small by energizing the ASDVC board.

“I want ASDVC to be known as a force that makes students voices heard,” he said.

Contact Ariel Messman-Rucker at [email protected]