"Clueless Trustees" Blasted

The San Diego Union-Tribune published an editorial headlined "Clueless trustees," blasting the California State University Board of Trustees' oblivious response to the recent state audit of CSU executive compensation practices. In response to Trustee Achtenberg and Chancellor Reed crowing over the audit finding "no violations of policy or law" the editorial says:

Gracious. No policy violations occurred because the pay policies are too vague and elastic to violate. Set by the CSU Board of Trustees, those policies are the problem.

And later:

CSU administration has been as devious as beneficent. In pursuing raises to meet the salaries of their peers elsewhere, executives deliberately counted only their salaries, not their hefty perks and benefits.

The editorial takes the trustees to task for not bothering to do their jobs:

Yet the board [Achtenberg] chairs, the overseer of CSU's budget, apparently has preferred the “don't ask, don't tell” approach to benefits and perks, which add so much to total executive compensation. With student fees doubling, such credulousness is, well, incredible. Trustees should not forget they are entrusted to spend public money to provide students a good education.

Clueless trustees: Time to close down CSU's get-rich factory (San Diego Union-Tribune)