Modesto Bee weighs in on Palin contract

[Joanne98]

DEBIT: There seems to be no end in sight to the posturing and politicking over Sarah Palin's appearance at Cal State Stanislaus. We've already explained our position on her planned June 25 speech: First, a university should welcome all sorts of views and therefore should welcome Palin as well; and second, the foundation sponsoring the event should open its books and explain how much it is paying Palin and how much it hopes to raise. And we've long maintained that university foundations should fall under all requirements of the Public Records Act. All of that seemed simple enough — until some students claimed to have found portions of what appears to be a contract with Palin, which includes some clauses that are clearly antithetical to the university's mission of openness. For example, one clause says that any questions for Palin have to be pre-screened and asked by a designated representative, and that any media coverage is subject to review and approval. Hmmmm. We're sorry to see university and foundation officials both pulling closed the curtains of secrecy. It seems to us that everything that goes on at a public institution should be open to public scrutiny. It also seems to us that anyone who pays $500 to listen to Palin should be able to have a crack at asking her a question. And it seems to us that perhaps the governing bodies of California's public colleges and universities need to set policies for public disclosure and open interaction.

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2010/04/16/1130880/our-tribute-to-a-truly-taxing.html#ixzz0lOQdTwo6


And this town is cutting back on services....


Layoffs, reduced hours coming to Stanislaus County libraries


Stanislaus County is preparing to shut its 13 libraries every Friday and lay off 25 library employees as part of a cost-cutting strategy intended to shore up the library budget.

The announcement is the first specific budget-cutting plan offered by county leaders this year. They must slash $23 million in spending by the July 1 start of the next fiscal year.

The Sheriff's Department is expected to be next in line to offer a detailed layoff plan. Sheriff Adam Christianson has refused to reveal potential job losses except to say the number is less than the 32 mentioned under an initial estimate.

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2010/04/17/1130475/stanislaus-county-layoffs-reduced.html#ixzz0lORRKfvB


The Foundation offficals should be fired. This was a terrible idea. Not only does Palin sneer at education she's going to try an incite violence against the President as she always does.


Here's the names of the Foundation officials.

Foundation Board MembersIntroduction | Meeting Dates

CHAIR OF THE BOARD
Hamid Shirvani

PRESIDENT
Matt Swanson

EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Susana Gajic-Bruyea

TREASURER
Russ Giambelluca

SECRETARY
James Brenda

FACULTY REPRESENATIVE
Jane Bruner

STUDENT REPRESENATIVE
Diana Heredia

BOARD MEMBERS
Bill Ahlem
Esmail Amid-Hozour
Amin Ashrafzadeh
Darius Assemi
Dorothy Bizzini
James Brenda
Moses Elam
Bob Endsley
Ed Fitzpatrick
Ron Foster
Steve Gemperle
Paula Zagaris Leffler
Norik Naraghi
Milan Panic
George Petrulakis
Carol Bright Tougas
William Trezza
Robert Triebsch
Jim Vieira
Jane Vilas
Larry Weis

http://www.csustan.edu/UniversityAdvancement/Foundation/BoardMembers.html

They should get the idiot of the year award!

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Group sues CSU campus over Palin contract

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/16/BARL1D00G0.DTL

In the latest salvo in the brouhaha over Sarah Palin's confidential speaking fee at a California State University campus, an open-government group sued the campus and its foundation Friday to force disclosure of the information.

The CSU Stanislaus Foundation has refused to say how much it will pay Palin to speak at a June 25 fundraiser, citing a privacy clause in her contract and a state law that shields public university foundations from the Public Records Act.

The lawsuit from Californians Aware, a Sacramento nonprofit, argues that the foundation and university are so intertwined that the foundation should also have to comply with the Public Records Act. Three university officers - the president and two vice presidents - all vetted the Palin paperwork, the suit says.

It also points out that foundation policy requires university officers to oversee its contracts, and that the campus president, Hamid Shirvani, is the foundation president.

"The university could publish the contract on the Web tomorrow, and our suit would go on," said Terry Francke, general counsel for Californians Aware. "It's not idle curiosity. The public should have the ability to look over the shoulder of state officers in their supervision" of auxiliary groups that employ public university officers.

His suit says such groups provide 20 percent of CSU funding, and identifies three foundations - in Sonoma, Sacramento and Fresno - that appear to have misused public funds in recent years.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/16/BARL1D00G0.DTL#ixzz0lOU0rzY8

[Joanne98]

2. Here's the 2008 campaign contributions for the officials

By Adam Ashton
[e-mail]
last updated: April 02, 2010 02:03:56 AM


Sarah Palin speaks at the "Showdown in Searchlight" tea party rally in Searchlight, Nev., Saturday, March 27, 2010. - (Jae C. Hong / The Associated Press) -

The president of the nonprofit group bringing Sarah Palin to California State University, Stanislaus, donated $18,600 in support of her and Republican presidential candidate John McCain two years ago.

University President Hamid Shirvani, the nonprofit's chairman, liked Barack Obama. He gave $2,300 to the Democratic presidential nominee.

The donations reflect a range of political views on the university foundation's 28-member board of directors.

That board has been criticized by students and faculty over the past week for hiring Palin — one of the right's most polarizing and popular leaders — to speak at the university's 50th anniversary celebration and fund-raiser June 25.

Because it's a private group, the foundation is not subject to California open government laws that would compel a public school to disclose Palin's speaking fee. Typically, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate charges $100,000.

State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, wants to force the foundation to disclose the number. So does a pair of open government advocacy groups.

Foundation President Matt Swanson, a Turlock agricultural businessman, gave the most cash to Republicans in the 2008 election. Besides the money that went to political action committees backing McCain and Palin, he gave $12,700 to other GOP candidates, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Orange County pharmaceutical entrepreneur Milan Panic steered the most money to Democrats among the board members. He gave $33,100 to PACs that helped Obama, $23,900 to the Democratic National Committee and $6,900 to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 2008 election.

Others who gave to the 2008 presidential candidates include Modesto land-use attorney George Petrulakis ($7,300 to different McCain committees), Fresno developer Darius Assemi ($4,600 to Obama) and Hilmar Cheese co-founder Bill Ahlem ($1,150 to McCain).

Most current board members did not return calls for this story. Swanson did not respond to calls or an e-mail. Shirvani was traveling and unavailable for comment, a university spokeswoman said.

A former foundation board member said politics do not drive its decisions.

"The fact is we're raising money to provide scholarships for students and this is going to be one of the biggest fund-raising events that Cal State Stanislaus has ever had," said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation.

The foundation's 2008 tax return shows it raised $4.1 million and distributed close to $3 million in scholarships and assistance to the school.

Republicans typically do well on fund-raising trips to Stanislaus County. McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani visited the area for the 2008 presidential campaign.

In the general election, however, Obama outpaced Republicans here. Residents in ZIP codes beginning with 953 — an area that includes Stanislaus County, parts of southern San Joaquin County, and parts of Mariposa, Merced and Tuolumne counties — gave him $358,174 against McCain's $247,647.

Petrulakis said he doesn't expect Palin to sound any campaign themes at the June fund-raiser, a black-tie event.

But, he said Palin would be a key figure in upcoming congressional elections. She has been encouraging people to protest the health care reform bill, and to target Democratic seats that could go to Republicans.

"If Sarah Palin actively campaigns, I believe she could be instrumental in turning a number of blue seats red," he said.

Bee Assistant City Editor Adam Ashton can be reached at [e-mail] or 578-2366.

http://www.modbee.com/2010/04/02/1111950/csus-groups-politics-diverse.html

[tularetom]

3. These people are not idiots because they signed the agreement with Palin

They signed the agreement with Palin because they are idiots.

I have met several of the people on this board over the years and I must say a more smug and shallow group of human beings could not possibly exist anyplace where air is breathed. Plastic people.

I doubt that they consider Palin their social equal but they do see her as a valuable tool in convincing the hicks to vote against policies and candidates which would actually help them.

[NYC_SKP]

4. K and R.

This is a hot mess and I'm embarrassed for my region and this institution.

:mad: