UC Execs Still Getting Perks Despite Criticism

ap on cbs5.com ^ | 5/25/07 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

(AP) OAKLAND University of California executives are still getting additional compensation despite withering criticism from lawmakers and others.

Officials of the 10-campus system came under fire when it was revealed they had quietly been paying executives millions above their reported salaries.

Since then, administrators have overhauled their system to make sure the decisions are made publicly and with the proper authority, but they haven't stopped the extra compensation.

UC officials say they have to make the exceptions to stay competitive in the job market.

In the 15 months following the revelations, first reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, more than $1 million in additional compensation—including bonuses, auto allowances and relocation incentives—has been paid to about 70 top executives.

The compensation was allowed under rules that give UC President Robert C. Dynes and the system's governing Board of Regents the authority to grant exceptions to policy.

State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, a member of the Senate Education Committee, said she would seek new hearings on "these egregious 'exceptions' which we know now are no exception at all."

UC has hired Mercer Consulting to review its compensation policies to see if they need to be revised. For instance, UC's relocation policy was designed before competitors started routinely offering to pay things like closing costs, so UC has to offer other things to stay competitive, such as longer temporary housing, said spokesman Michael Reese.

[paul51]

The UC people couldn’t care less what the legislators think and the legislators couldn’t care less what the tax payers think. Apparently the voters couldn’t care less that they continue to get fleeced.