If you don’t live in California, be thankful. The cost of living is going through the roof, the lack of affordable housing is getting worse, jobs paying living wages are fewer and fewer, crime is increasing, traffic is terrible, the infrastructure is crumbling, the quality of education is dropping like a rock, the influx of illegal aliens into the state with their impact on social services continues and the edicts from the state government – which is controlled by Democrats – continue to raise taxes and fees.
All in all, it isn’t a pretty picture from an economic and basic livability standpoint.
As if that weren’t enough, it’s now been revealed by a state audit of the University of California system that the Office of the President, Janet Napolitano, has hidden reserves of $175 million.
Those who don’t mind being crass call it a “slush fund.”
The audit was requested by state lawmakers, who had battled with Napolitano’s office over money spent and the “need” to raise tuition. One of the issues was that many qualified California students weren’t admitted to the school while foreign students, who pay higher tuition rates, were.
Assemblymen Phil Ting, D-S.F., and Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, say the audit also shows the president’s office kept hidden the millions from the Board of Regents and had secret spending plans that involved increasing the salaries and benefits of staff. All this while Napolitano is moving ahead with plans to raise tuition this fall.
What’s interesting is that many of the critics of Napolitano and the hidden money are Democrats. They’re furious, but there’s no call to replace her.
Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom, D-S.F., a U.C. Regent who’s also a candidate for governor in the next gubernatorial race, is quoted saying it’s “outrageous and unjust to force tuition hikes on students while U.C. hides secret funds.” He said he wants the tuition hike request reversed.
So far, that hasn’t happened.
The university is governed by the Regents of the University – a group of 26, nominated by the governor and approved by the Senate for 12-year terms. They are supposed to be politically independent and operate independently from state government.
Despite the controversy and disagreements, Newsom was quoted as saying, “I remain a supporter of Janet’s. I still believe in her.”
He’s not alone.
All this, despite further elements in the audit that show Napolitano’s office interfered with survey responses from individual campuses. The survey was to determine any influence from the president’s office on spending and admission practices.
The East Bay Times asked U.C. Regent John Perez for an interview, but he refused because, “according to his spokesman, officials from the president’s office had requested all press inquiries go through them.”
Uh-oh. That sounds incriminating – as though the president wanted to be sure that the reports from each campus were flattering to their procedures. Sounds like there was an effort to rig the results, which was made even clearer when State Auditor Elaine Howle reported that changes were demanded on audit surveys before they were completed.
Her classic quote: “In my 17 years as state auditor, we have never had a situation like this.”
This isn’t small peanuts. U.C. has a total operating budget of $31.5 billion; Napolitano’s central administration’s budget is upward of $686 million. U.C. comprises 10 campuses across the state, five research laboratories and five hospitals. It is a massive operation that operates virtually independently, with no direct oversight by the legislature.
That may change. The audit report recommends the legislature set the budget for the president’s office, to have more control.
A week after the initial report, Napolitano appeared before a joint legislative oversight committee in Sacramento. Her response? “While we believe we did things appropriately, it is clear in retrospect we could have handled this better. I am sorry that we did it this way because it has created the wrong impression.”
The audit figures for the Central Office speak for themselves. Spending increased by $80 million between 2012 and 2016. More money was received than needed, yet requests for more increased. Executives were paid $3.37 million in one year, more than other top executives at comparable state agencies, and $21.6 million was spent for employee benefits.
Not everyone is sitting back and taking this. Assemblywoman Catherine Baker, R-San Ramon, has called for a subpoena of the U.C. records. She said, “We need to get to the bottom of this.”
But the Regents are siding with Napolitano. The S.F. Chronicle reported the chair, Monica Lozano, said, “We have confidence in (the president’s) leadership.”
It’s all politics. Janet Napolitano is a former Arizona governor and a former Homeland Security secretary. She had no academic experience and was chosen because it was thought she could negotiate U.C.’s bureaucracy and help the system get the political help it needed from Sacramento.
Now she’s alienated many in the legislature. The question is, will she survive and why?
An interesting view was noted by Dan Schnur in the East Bay Times. The former GOP strategist knows political tides.
He calls the issue the biggest test of Napolitano’s political skills – that she has to fix broken political relationships “without sacrificing more than the university is willing to tolerate.”
But he had a warning: “She might be politically wounded at the moment, but she’s going to recover, and she probably has a very long memory, so there’s not much incentive for anyone to get in her dog-house.”
If anyone ever wanted a clear picture of California politics – there it is – and taxpayers and students pay the price.
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