Posted on 04/24/2008 10:16:00 AM PDT by SmithL
BERKELEY — UC Berkeley leaders granted improper perks last year to police Chief Victoria Harrison, who retired with a $2.1 million payout and was immediately rehired to the same position at a higher salary.
In addition, she will receive $552,000 in the next 10 years from a deferred compensation plan.
A Times investigation revealed that campus administrators broke or bypassed University of California and federal rules while rehiring Harrison, including some that were reinforced after the university's 2006 executive-compensation scandal. Among the questionable decisions:
Harrison's retirement and subsequent rehiring came shortly after UC President Robert Dynes, testifying before the Legislature, vowed to reduce exceptions to executive compensation policies and to make such deals more visible to the public. Harrison's exceptions were not made public at the time they were granted.
Brostrom said Harrison was retiring at a volatile time when the university needed her continued leadership. Violent crime increased last year and the school has spent more than a year dealing with tree-sitting protesters, he said.
"It's an extremely complex and demanding job," he said. "She'd reached her maximum retirement benefit and it was critical that we retain her."
The chief could have continued working under her old contract, said Brostrom.
In a written statement, Harrison did not reveal why she retired but said she chose to accept the university's offer and remain in a job she loves. "At age 54 I am too young to stop working and I still find meaning in service to the public," she wrote.
Harrison, who declined to answer direct questions, said that in taking the lump sum, she gave up guaranteed monthly retirement pay and lifetime health insurance and other benefits.
She will receive $4,600 a month for 10 years from a university deferred compensation plan.
Harrison — who had job offers last year that paid more than UC, according to Brostrom — did not respond to interview requests. She joined the department as an intern when she was 18 and was 37 when she became its first female chief in August 1990.
The rehiring was allowed only because Harrison took her retirement pay as a lump sum rather than an ongoing annual benefit. Harrison's base salary was $161,527 in 2006-07. Before retirement, she received a $24,500 stipend for extra work as an associate vice chancellor and $18,000 in unused vacation pay bringing her total compensation to $205,000.
UC administrators declined to explain why Harrison was granted so many exceptions.
Harrison was rehired at a base salary of $175,000, which was bumped up to $181,125 two months later. She also was granted a stipend of $12,700 so she could help Athletic Director Sandy Barbour shore up the athletics department budget, bringing her base income to $194,000.
Several UC regents, including board Chairman Richard Blum, did not respond to requests for comment this week.
Legislators who criticized the university during the compensation scandal repeated their censure this week.
"Vintage UC strategy," said Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, who promised to question administrators about Harrison's rehiring. "When you do maneuvers like this, you lose the public's trust."
Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, called the hiring "outrageous." She had joined Maldonado last year in calling for Dynes' resignation.
"The Legislature has been very clear that you cannot play 'hide-the-ball,'" Romero said. "For it to happen again is just pure defiance. It borders on corruption."
Some predicted Harrison's perks would lead to renewed scrutiny by the Legislature.
"It sounds like they haven't learned their lesson," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies. "When you retire, you retire."
Retirement benefits
Where are all the students that went to Sacramento to protest education budget cuts?
Public employee unions - ripping off taxpayers for 70 years...
As an alumnus, I’m calling for a new administration. (along with many, many others)
him?
Aren’t the libs always squealing about this type of gross compensation when it happens in the private sector?
I stand corrected, I read Victor
And we wonder why tuitions keep climbing to the moon!
A story repeated through-out CA (and RI and MA etc) in Police/Firemen/etc pension plans........govenment gone wild (or poorly informed) when negotiating Pension plans.
Our tax paying dollars at work!
What a crock. How can I get into something like that?
Man, make me want to go back to the states and get hired there :/
The amusing thing....is that there are well over 2,000 qualified folks in America who could do the job. They bent every rule possible...to give her a sweet deal. I would think they would be so shamed...that they’d resign...but no...they aren’t even ashame of this type behavior. The wonderful thing now...is that after they’ve hired her...they will actually have to pay her a severance pay package....to leave a second time. So she isn’t even ashamed by the entire act. My guess is that they have to offer a minimum of $400k to leave now...which means more money going out of the pot. And the really silly thing? She can turn around....and submit her resume to the idiots a third time, and get hired yet again.
Lieutenant Governor $159,134
Attorney General $184,301
Secretary of State $159,134
Superintendent of Public Instruction $184,301
Speaker of the Assembly $133,639
President Pro Tem of the Senate $133,639
Minority Floor Leader $133,639
Majority Floor Leader $124,923
All Other Legislators $9,684.01 $116,208
UC Berkeley police chief's pay 2006-07 fiscal year $161,527.63 Regular salary; $204,967.35 total
Good thing she just runs the force on ONE campus, or they would have to give her a LARGE "compensation package">
The UC Board of Regents got a gloomy list of options on Thursday to cover a projected $417 million gap in state funding next year, but they smiled brightly on their top administrative aide by awarding her a 26 percent pay increase of $61,000.
The raise boosted the annual salary of Secretary/Chief of Staff Diane Griffiths to $295,000 and came less than a year after she was hired. [snip}
It is the SF Bay area - these things can be subject to change.
A Lib institution run by libs, and overseen by Libs breaking the rules???
NNNahhh!!
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