ASB petition for new sustainability position

On Oct. 22, students in the environmental advocacy club Team Marine released a petition urging the Associated Student Body (ASB) to add a position focused on sustainability at school events. Samo’s student body has specialized committees for various categories, such as spirit, media and community service, and this position would focus on making ASB events more environmentally friendly to reach the school's sustainability goals. Since the petition began, it has gained the support of over 55 verified signatures and is continuing to grow. 

Carla Sinecka Rodes (’26), one of the co-leaders on Team Marine, explained more about the purpose behind the petition.

“At a lot of other schools, they already have a specific position in ASB to make sure all of the programs are running sustainably,” Sinecka said. “[The new position holder] would be an expert on the matter, making sure that ASB-run events at Samo would implement sustainable practices. Santa Monica historically is known as a leader for climate-related matters, so we want to add this position.”

Stefani Tovar, the ASB advisor, gave her take on adding a new position.

“I think it's really important that we implement sustainability into our class [ASB]. There have been differences of opinion on how to do that, whether to do it as an entire class so that all the positions practice sustainability, or to have people specifically in charge of it. We are still deciding how to integrate that. I think we can see that in our own ASB with committees, having a group in charge of those things really prioritizes that. If we can’t create a sustainability position now, then it is something I would continue to advocate for,” Tovar said. 

The ASB Cabinet is reportedly set to vote on whether to approve the petition at a meeting scheduled for early January.