In his second interview since hearing of the Sacramento State Faculty Senate’s decision to hold a no-confidence referendum, President Alexander Gonzalez spoke to The State Hornet about his initial reaction to the referendum and what he said are common misconceptions about the administration and his presidential track record.

Gonzalez said the referendum was developed due to a lack of campus understanding.

“There was convergence of a lot of factors,” Gonzalez said. “Just the atmosphere of going through contract negotiations, the budget deficit and the lack of understanding of the budget?all of that contributed to the anger that is out there. Anger that is, in my opinion, misplaced.”

President of the Sac State chapter of the California Faculty Association Cecil Canton said that Gonzalez’s statement couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I completely disagree,” Canton said. “I think that the referendum came around because the faculty has a better understanding of budgetary issues and of his overall performance. I think he’s selling the faculty members and their intellectual capacity short.”

Gonzalez said he feels that a lot of the responses and arguments put out by the CFA and the Faculty Senate have been part of a negotiation strategy.

“Everybody is being painted by the same brush,” Gonzalez said. “People have said that (the administration’s) priorities are misplaced, which is part of a negotiation strategy, and that’s fine. I’ve kept very quiet on the whole thing because I didn’t want to get involved in any exchanges that would influence anyone in a negative manner.”

Canton said that while can’t speak for the actions of the Faculty Senate he does know that all of the CFA’s actions and arguments have been based on what is best for the faculty, not on hatred for Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said that he has also cooperated fully with the demands and needs of the Faculty Senate.

“I did everything the senate asked of me,” he said. “I presented data to them, whether they chose to accept it or not was up to them?. They presented me with a budget task force – I was already ahead of them and did it, and then they asked for a report, which I accepted and sent out to the campus community unedited and unaltered – within an hour of receiving it.”

Gonzalez said there are a number of Sac State faculty and staff members who have and will continue to fight him on every decision regardless of the reasoning behind it.

“There is a group of faculty here who are have made it their goal to discredit me and to gain control of some of the processes here on campus,” Gonzalez said.

Canton said that Gonzalez’s recent attempts, to speak with the media and the Faculty Senate, are his way of putting the blame on others instead of taking responsibility for his own mistakes.

“He’s trying to deflect responsibility away from himself,” Canton said. “The faculty have legitimate concerns?.Gonzalez can’t just wish this one away, he needs to address our concerns and make the necessary adjustments to fix the problem.”

Gonzalez said that while he is unsure about whether or not the faculty will vote for or against him he does know that accountability goes both ways.

“If the vote passes, it passes, and if doesn’t, then it doesn’t,” Gonzalez said. “I can’t do anything about it either way. I do know that, whether it passes or not, I will continue to work cooperatively and openly with the campus community.”

Faculty Senate Chair Michael Fitzgerald said that Sac State faculty members will vote sometime in the next two weeks.

Gonzalez said that he has addressed the Faculty Senate’s concerns and responded to the referendum in an open letter to the campus community.

To view President Gonzalez’s letter responding to the referendum of no-confidence, click the above image.

Ashley Evans can be reached at [email protected]