U.C. to Manage Home Costs of President
University hopes to avoid another $700,000 in expenses
The University of California has appointed an official to manage spending and operations at President Mark G. Yudof’s new private residence, after Yudof ran up nearly $700,000 in expenses and involved senior university officials in time-consuming personal matters over a rented mansion in the Oakland Hills.
University officials said the action was necessary because of a lack of oversight and accountability during Yudof’s two-year stay at the Oakland property.
The announcement came after The Bay Citizen disclosed the costly housing ordeal last week, provoking criticism at a time when the 10-campus U.C. system is facing one of the worst financial crises in its history.
“Here you literally have wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have gone into student scholarships, reduction of fees — whatever — to educate more students in California,” said Leland Yee, a Democratic state senator from San Francisco who has been critical of Yudof’s management of the U.C.
Yudof moved into a smaller house in Lafayette last month after failing to obtain a last-minute lease extension in Oakland. His hurried exit left behind tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the house, according to the owner, who is seeking payment from the university.
U.C. officials said Karren Jamaca had been assigned to handle the university’s relationship with the new landlord and to pay vendors, in addition to other matters. Jamaca’s role overseeing Yudof’s residence will be similar to her management of three other university facilities.
“The biggest thing is to establish a clear line of authority, clear up confusion and provide more accountability on the house,” said Nathan Brostrom, executive vice president for business operations at the university.
After being hired in 2008 from the University of Texas, where he served as chancellor for six years, Yudof opted not to live at Blake House, the university’s traditional presidential residence, which is in need of repairs. Instead, he and his wife moved into the 16-room Oakland house. The U.C. paid the $13,365 monthly rent out of a private endowment, officials said.
In one expense, the university spent nearly $20,000 — including $530.04 an hour in overtime — to fix an indoor elevator that the landlord said was under warranty and could have been repaired at no charge.
Lynn Tierney, a university spokeswoman, said she had been advised by the U.C. general counsel not to discuss specific actions taken at the house because of possible mediation or litigation with the landlord, Brennan Mulligan, who has kept the university’s $32,100 security deposit.
The university reached a tentative settlement with Mulligan that would have allowed him to keep the security deposit and receive an additional $19,759.05, but Yudof killed that deal because he said the terms were “outrageous and ridiculous.”
The university is now disputing some of the charges, including the cost to repair the elevator.
This article also appears in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times.
Michael David
This Bay Citizen story begins here:
"The University of California has appointed an official to manage spending and operations at President Mark G. Yudof’s new private residence, after Yudof ran up nearly $700,000 in expenses and involved senior university officials in time-consuming personal matters over a rented mansion in the Oakland Hills.
University officials said the action was necessary because of a lack of oversight and accountability during Yudof’s two-year stay at the Oakland property.
The announcement came after The Bay Citizen disclosed the costly housing ordeal last week, provoking criticism at a time when the 10-campus U.C. system is facing one of the worst financial crises in its history."
However, most of the real action and reaction happened prior to the Bay Citizen's reporting, as is revealed deep in the story:
"Yudof and his wife have settled into a new home in Lafayette. The rent is $11,500 a month. The house “potentially will save the university as much as 25 percent of what was required to maintain the previous residence,” according to a report filed to the board. The new house is 4,837 square feet, less than half the size of the Mulligan residence."
All this happened before Bay Citizen started looking into things. Kinda pathetic. Maybe there was a problem here. But it wasn't exposed by the Bay Citizen.
Bronwen Rowlands
Ah, but did you see any of this written up in the press before the Bay Citizen article? And, it was the Bay Citizen that got UCOP to jump and act as if they're taking action to correct the situation.
I say "as if" because putting a UCOP employee in charge of the president's spending behavior is very much like putting BP in charge of the Gulf oil disaster.
cloud minder
1- When did Lafayette become the Official Residence of the University of California President? (or is that determined by where the Royal Sovereign lays his head down each night?)
2- What is the full title of the private endowment gifted to the university for such purposes? What is the balance on that account? What interest earned? Who are the donors and what were their wishes and intentions for the funds?
3- Why wasn't that account tapped to repair Blake House? Why were funds from that account instead given to rental property - rental property not owned by the UC?
4- Were the funds for the general counsel's time to negotiate with the landlord paid from that private endowment? what about the percent time of other staff who dealt with this issue?
cloud minder
and, folks, here we have the intersection where SB 330 meets up with these "Costs related to the presidential residence are covered through a private endowment gifted to the university for such purposes."
http://cloudminder.blogspot.com/
to contact the Governor to support SB 330 :
http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email
also see the latest on the Palin affair ...lots of recent news on that too
cloud minder
one more thought as a I re-read this story:
I have a difficult time believing Lynn Tierney because of this story:
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2010/07/uc_officials_say_differing_sto.php
I have a difficult time believing Nathan Brostrom because of this story:
http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-04-25/bay-area/17145161_1_retirement-plan-uc-berkeley-police-department-police-chief-victoria-harrison
and many other stories too
also, why no discussion of the general counsel's time?
and is Karren Jamaca the same staffer who is paid to work from the Yudof home and has offices there? or is that another uc staffer?
does the UC Pres even roll out of bed to UCOP in Oakland on even a weekly or daily basis?
will we receive regular reports for the cost of litigation against UC alum and former landlord Brennan Mulligan?
does Yudof now know how to turn off the faucets and notice 1.2 million gallons of water use on a bill?
these are questions that I am left wondering about
Anitagam
So, how much are taxpayers going to pay the person who supervises Yudof's home expenses? Will the drain on our own savings never end?
Milan Moravec
$700,00 is a drop comparedtothe $3,000,000 being allocated by Chancellor Birgeneau on consultants to do the work of his job.Read on for details...Sorry Tale of UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Office: easily grasped by the public, lost on University of California’s President Yudof. The UC Berkley budget gap has grown to $150 million, & still the Chancellor is spending money that isn't there on $3,000,000 consultants. His reasons range from the need for impartiality to requiring the consultants "thinking, expertise, & new knowledge".
Does this mean that the faculty & management of UC Berkeley – flagship campus of the greatest public system of higher education in the world - lack the knowledge, integrity, impartiality, innovation, skills to come up with solutions? Have they been fudging their research for years? The consultants will glean their recommendations from faculty interviews & the senior management that hired them; yet $ 150 million of inefficiencies and solutions could be found internally if the Chancellor & Provost Breslauer were doing the work of their jobs (This simple point is lost on UC’s leadership).
The victims of this folly are Faculty and Students. $ 3 million consultant fees would be far better spent on students & faculty.
There can be only one conclusion as to why inefficiencies & solutions have not been forthcoming from faculty & staff: Chancellor Birgeneau has lost credibility & the trust of the faculty & Academic Senate leadership (C. Kutz, F. Doyle). Even if the faculty agrees with the consultants' recommendations - disagreeing might put their jobs in jeopardy - the underlying problem of lost credibility & trust will remain. (Context: greatest recession in modern times)
Contact your representatives in Sacramento: tell them of the hefty self-serving $’s being spent by UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau & Provost Breslauer.
Robert Reinhard
Mark Hurd was let go from Hewlett Packard for, apparently, much less spending.
M Bikuri
What does Mr Yudof pay for out of his own pocket? and why does he need a body guard?