What fresh hell is this?
And yes, it appears Oregon public meetings law does not require Pernsteiner give any more description than that below. Reporters can attend, but only if they promise not to report. I tried to go to the executive session on firing Lariviere. Triplett told me I wasn’t a reporter. 12/18/12.
http://www.ous.edu/sites/default/files/state_board/meeting/letters/call121221-FA.pdf
http://www.ous.edu/sites/default/files/state_board/meeting/dockets/ddoc121221-FA.pdf
Bojack has the story. Some history here, and the obituary here. 12/12/12.
For the curious, here. Same salary and benefits. Keeps 2nd house allowance, expense allowance, extra expense allowance, maid service, travel, etc. Must continue to pretend he lives at Treetops. Runs through July 2014. 11/27/2012.
10/14/2012: Good editorial here. The Oregonian’s endorsement is here. This should be an easy choice for UO supporters too. Current Secretary of State Kate Brown’s office has refused to investigate Pernsteiner for claiming Treetops as his Lane County voting residence. Pernsteiner actually lives in Portland, in a house OUS gives him a $26,000 housing allowance for, paid for out of that shrinking state support for higher education that he keeps complaining about.
Buehler’s campaign website is here. Make a donation. I particularly like his proposed reforms of the State Audits Division. This agency has some good people. They wrote pretty damning audits of Frohnmayer and Moseley. But as Buehler notes there’s not much follow through. In fact Jim Bean broke the deal between UO and the auditors within two months with no consequences, as we explained in “Provosts Gone Wild”. From what I can tell it was my request for those documents that led Dave Hubin and Bob Berdahl to gut UO’s public records process – is that right Dave?
From Diane Dietz in the RG on the proposed bill. Read it all, if just for the insulting Matt Donegan quotes. 10/5/2012.
to take public comments, this Thursday:
Diane Dietz on our new President – she’s not happy with his fake news conference:
Gottfredson said he’ll spend the rest of the summer exploring the campus, meeting with deans and faculty and learning the issues.
Fair enough, but remember, winter is coming. Then there’s this:
Treetops, at 2237 Spring Blvd., is an 8,111-square-foot, 1911 mansion in the Fairmount neighborhood. The merchant that donated Treetops to the university system in 1938 specified that either the state system’s chancellor or the UO president has to live in the house.
But Chancellor George Pernsteiner owns a home in Portland and is available to live at Treetops only part time. Consequently, it costs the state upwards of $50,000 annually to keep up a part time residence.
The Gottfredsons, at this point, are moving into McMorran House. “We’re delighted to be in McMorran House,” Michael Gottfredson said. “It’s a wonderful place.”
But the concept of the UO president living at Treetops, which would free Pernsteiner to live wherever he chose without violating the covenant, has not gone by the wayside.
“We’re having some conversations about that,” Gottfredson said.
Say, I wonder if Pernsteiner’s lawyer, Bill Gary – a partner in Randy Geller’s favorite law firm – is still claiming that Pernsteiner intends to return to live in Lane County?
Because he’s still got himself listed on Kate Brown’s voting rolls at 2237 Spring Hill Blvd, Eugene. And it’s a felony to lie to the elector about that sort of thing.
7/5/2012: According to his Op-Ed in the Salem Statesman Journal. FWIW, I heard many good things about the process from those involved, and I hope Gottfredson meets expectations. So, since this worked out so well, maybe Ford should try running a search for a new OUS Chancellor next? Open, closed, whatever. Pernsteiner has had the job for years with no search at all – just a tip of the hat from Neil Goldschmidt.
5/2/2012: From the official Oregon Secretary of State website:
And Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown came down hard about voter fraud in the Oregonian:
… Perhaps the greatest deterrents are the penalties for a Class C felony. That’s the crime when someone ineligible casts a ballot, votes under a false name, forges a signature on a ballot envelope or falsely registers to vote. If they do manage to get by our security checks, the Oregon Department of Justice will prosecute and then we’re talking five years in prison, a $125,000 fine and, when appropriate, deportation.
But apparently that’s the deal for poor people, not the well connected 1% like Pernsteiner.
Last March I filed a complaint with Lane County Elections, asking them to investigate the legality of Pernsteiner’s Lane County registration. Lane County Elections supervisor Roxanne Marshall told me that her office would not pursue a complaint against someone who formally stated that they intended to return to Lane County, someday – no matter how farfetched the claim. It probably didn’t hurt that Pernsteiner hired attorney Bill Gary to write this letter for him. Or that he’s a registered Democrat like Brown, and a big campaign contributor. Or that Gary is a Kate Brown supporter.
Nice little beach community they’ve got here, and they aim to keep it that way.
3/5/2012: That’s the latest from Bill Graves at the Oregonian, buried at end of his gun story. More as we get the docs – and there’s some scandalous stuff here.
The board also voted to extend Pernsteiner’s contract through June 30, 2014, but is still negotiating terms. Pernsteiner, who has not had a pay raise in four years, earns $280,900 a year plus $12,720 in deferred compensation.
Three months ago he fired Lariviere for giving out unauthorized raises. Now he wants a raise too. Graves leaves off a few of Pernsteiner’s other perks and hiring peculiarities:
1/13/2012: This will make 8 years since Goldschmidt appointed him interim, never a search. Full letter here. Bad news for UO. It will be hard to hire a strong president who is willing to work for Pernsteiner. Our best hope now is to get the Lane County Delegation to get some sort of UO Board proposal through the legislature this session. Word is they are working on it.
1/6/2012: Docket here. The OUS board is evaluating Pernsteiner today, in an executive session, without any chance for public input:
12/14/2011: That’s my read of the recent chatter. We wish him well, happy to write a glowing letter.
12/5/2011: Please read this and consider joining in by sending the email below.
The Oregon statutes on determining voting residence state
(3) An elections official may consider, but is not limited to considering, the following factors in determining residency of a person for voter registration purposes:
(a) Where the person receives personal mail;
(b) Where the person is licensed to drive;
(c) Where the person registers motor vehicles for personal use;
(d) Where any immediate family members of the person reside;
(e) The address from which the person pays for utility services; and
(f) The address from which the person files any federal or state income tax returns.
OUS Chancellor George Pernsteiner owns a house in Portland (OUS gives him a $26,000 housing allowance for it) and he spends most of his working time at his office at PSU.
But he votes in Lane County. He’s been doing this since 2004 – apparently it’s part of the pretense that he is using the state owned Treetops mansion in Eugene as his “actual residence.” I’m no lawyer, but I believe in Oregon it’s a felony to make a false statement on a voter registration card:
Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown came down hard about voter fraud in the Oregonian last year:
… Perhaps the greatest deterrents are the penalties for a Class C felony. That’s the crime when someone ineligible casts a ballot, votes under a false name, forges a signature on a ballot envelope or falsely registers to vote. If they do manage to get by our security checks, the Oregon Department of Justice will prosecute and then we’re talking five years in prison, a $125,000 fine and, when appropriate, deportation.
In March I filed a complaint with Lane County Elections, asking them to investigate the legality of Pernsteiner’s Lane County registration. Pernsteiner hired attorney Bill Gary to defend him. Gary eventually produced this letter in defense of his client and they dismissed the complaint.
I think that substantial new questions have been raised about the extent of time that Pernsteiner spends at Treetops, whether or not any immediate family members live there, and whether or not it is honestly “his primary residence and the place to which he intends to return” as his attorney claimed in March.
I’d like to hear Chancellor Pernsteiner make those statements under oath. You can help. I have asked Lane County to reopen the investigation, and if you would like support this effort, please copy and paste and email (or mail) this message:
[email protected]
Lane County Elections
Supervisor Roxanne Marshall
275 W 10th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
Dear Ms Marshall:
This is a request that you investigate whether or not OUS Chancellor George Pernsteiner meets the tests under Oregon Law to vote in Lane County Elections, and whether or not he has made false statements on Oregon Voter Registration cards.
I ask you to obtain copies of Chancellor Pernsteiner’s calendar and travel logs from his Chief of Staff, and to obtain sworn testimony from him regarding the tests of residence that apply under Oregon law.
Sincerely,
…
Feel free to cc me at [email protected] so I can keep a tally.
12/3/2011: That’s the gist of this Oregonian story. Because our Governor passionately believes in the importance of more administrative bloat for Oregon education. $280K a year, same as Pernsteiner. But will he get more perks than the Croissant Chancellor: staff, 2 houses, maid, landscaping, retirement add-on to PERS, extra expense money, …
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