Tag Archives: Pernsteiner

9/2/2011: I’m sorry, but there’s no polite way to state that simple fact:

More docs on Pernsteiner here. And more on order from OUS. We also pay his mortgage. And thanks to an anonymous commenter for explaining what’s really going on here:

The fact is that the UO would like to raise staff salaries and eliminate furloughs and has the money to do it. The conflict is with the OUS and the need to subsidize other campuses. Classified staff should be strong supporters of the New Partnership Plan. The status quo is bad for the UO, bad for faculty and staff, and bad for the state.

The RG article itself shows how shameless the OUS is in attempting to undermine the UO. It is really disgusting. It is almost as though they are laying a trap for the UO administration to step into so that they can fire them.

9/4/2011: Update:

A commenter notes that we also pay for maid service for Lariviere. The difference is Lariviere uses McMorran House for UO events pretty much all the time. Here’s what the Feb RG story says about Pernsteiner:

Not used for meetings

The deed isn’t the only document that restricts how the house is used. Pernsteiner’s employment contract also stipulates he is “required to reside” at Treetops.

The contract also requires that the house be used “to conduct Board or OUS meetings and events on a regular and continuing basis,” something that doesn’t appear to be happening.

Paul Kelly, president of the state Board of Higher Education, said no board meetings have been held at the house in the 3½ years he has been on the board. In fact, he said he’s never been in Treetops.

“I have not been there for any kind of board or official business,” he said.

The story also explains that while Pernsteiner rarely uses the house in Eugene (he lives in Portland, at his own house, which we are paying his mortgage on) his college age kid(s) do live there, along with some of their friends.

Documents and links regarding OUS, SB242, and SB909 and the Oregon Education Board. Last updated 8/29/2011.

General:

• Kitzhaber’s chief education adviser is Ben Cannon, who resigned from the legislature for the $105,000 job.

Oregon Education Investment Board. Est. by SB909, ostensibly controls K-12 and OUS

• Tim Nesbitt, head. Members to be confirmed Sept 23.

SB242 – effective summer 2012, give new independence and powers to OUS

•  raw legislation
• OUS board presentation on reorganizing OUS legal services to be independent from DOJ

OUS Chancellor’s office

• George Pernsteiner contracts, expenses and more expenses, resume
• Jay Kenton contracts, expenses, resume

Oregon State Board of Higher Education

• meeting minutes, dockets

8/27/2011: Bold talk, I know – the competition is Olympic caliber. But read Steve Duin’s Oregonian post and judge for yourself. Last year’s story on Pernsteiner here.

7/15/2011: More docs on the way on Pernsteiner’s croissant expenditures, Treetops, and the OUS board. Probably next week. Vice Chancellor Jay Kenton is looking into the question of whether or not to let Pernsteiner keep his dual housing allowances, maid, etc. My guess is this will be a long process – Pernsteiner’s contract runs through May 2012.

They gave me a fee waiver this time, before I even asked. Apparently this is not the sort of situation where people want to leave themselves open to claims they are hiding stuff. Especially given that they will soon have to deal with Kitzhaber’s oversight board.

6/1/2011: The OUS Board meets Friday. “The Board will review and approve the proposed tuition and fee rates for 2011-12.” Yes, the agenda states they will approve the increases. No vote? Bill Graves has a good story in the Oregonian, here. From OUS:

UO – The University of Oregon is proposing up to a 9 percent increase to resident undergraduate tuition and a 6.9 percent increase to resident graduate tuition. (And, if I read it right, a 8.8% increase for non-resident undergrad.)

Where will OUS spend the money? Well, of course Dr. Pernsteiner will take his cut off the top for expenses. Then there’s the Jock Box, and all the new UO administrators. And now, solar power:

The Oregon University System (“OUS”) has made plans to undertake a solar photovoltaic power purchase agreement program for all of its campuses. This objective includes a potential installed capacity of approximately 55 megawatts using solar energy equipment from a company similar to Zonna Energy. The initial steps for this overall plan are to expediently execute a power purchase agreement covering the power generation from five megawatts of photovoltaic systems; installed across each of the seven OUS campuses in two phases during 2011 and 2012.

Yes, nothing says you care about looking green like pissing away other people’s money on solar cells in rainy Oregon. (In fairness, EOU will get a chunk of them. I hear the sun shines over there.)

As for the rest of the OUS Board agenda, well, if you ever had doubts about Kitzhaber’s plan to fire them all, just read it. Happy self important people, spending more and more of our student’s money on their own pet causes.

4/13/2011: (Updated, Verbano ODE story here, bojack.org here.) A random dump of a few months of OUS Chancellor Pernsteiner’s expense accounts.

Our Chancellor does not let a croissant pass his lips without charging it to the taxpayers and students. Extrapolating, it looks like about $7000 in per diem charges per year – for personal food consumed while in Portland, where he lives. How can he use tuition dollars to pay for his breakfast? The scam is to claim he lives at Treetops in Eugene – so when he’s at his own house in Portland, he’s traveling! Keeping expenses in order is difficult with many businesses and institutions requiring the aid of a bookkeeping service, so having it spent on another person’s personal expenses could be quite troubling for some.

Actually he spends a few days a month in Eugene, and in fact we also pay him a $26,000 housing allowance for his house in Portland. Here’s the post on the abuses at his state owned mansion, Treetops. This costs the state $50K or so a year, with maid service. He also gets a $23,120 annual expense account that he does not even need to document – so he charges his breakfast to the state on another account. Sweet deal. The guy was an interim appointment by – of all people – Neil Goldschmidt. He does not even have a PhD, but he runs Oregon higher education.

Meanwhile, Pernsteiner’s attorney tries to keep a lid on the Lane County investigation of problems with his voting residence:

Nice try Mr. Gary, but I’ve posted your complete letter here. Your claims about time spent in Portland are not consistent with what I have of Chancellor Pernsteiner’s expense accounts and calender, here. I will get additional data to validate. I certainly don’t want to clog the tubes with inaccurate posts!

Rumor has it that the heirs of the family that gave the Treetops mansion to the state believe Pernsteiner has broken the terms of the gift, and they are beginning the process to get it back.

4/6/2011: Gov Kitzhaber’s is out selling his “one board to bind them” education plan. The fact that his chief adviser is Springfield Schools head Nancy Golden is a good sign – she’s very impressive. Big step up from Goldschmidt’s Dr. Pernsteiner – whoops, sorry, that’s Mr. Pernsteiner. The RG has a story but their website is down and there’s no way I’m going out to the drive to get the paper copy in this rain. Kimberly Melton in the Oregonian:

Senate Bill 909 creates a 13-member investment board appointed by the governor. The board would make recommendations on how to invest state education money. Kitzhaber says Oregon needs to target its money to ensure that children show up to kindergarten and first grade ready to read and that students who are leaving high school are college ready and have an easy transition to post-secondary education.

… representatives from some of the state’s key education groups disputed Kitzhaber’s claim that Oregon’s education system is broken. It’s not broken, they said during a packed hearing Tuesday afternoon, just underfunded.

“We may have a fragmented system, a competing system, but it’s not a broken system,” said David Rives, president of the American Federation of Teachers of Oregon.

And Bonnie Luisi, president of the Oregon School Employees Association, testified in support of the bill but said the state’s “drastic underfunding” of education is the “single greatest barrier to the improvement of quality and access.”

The state’s biggest education group, the Oregon Education Association, is neutral on the bill.

Follow the bill here, or all higher ed legislation here. Before you get too excited about this bill and what it would mean for the UO Freedom Forces, read Ms Melton’s other story here, on how dysfunctional the House education committee is:

Some are calling it a meltdown. Others say it’s just a bump in the road. But no matter how you characterize it, Oregon’s evenly-split House Education Committee is struggling to move legislation as the co-chairs haggle over individual bills, what should make the agenda and even who should hold the gavel.

The ongoing rift has frustrated legislators and stalled some big-ticket education bills on higher education, online learning, student transportation and charter schools. And now, it’s forcing House leaders to start working around the committee.

“We haven’t been nearly as productive as we should or could be,” said Rep. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, a member of the committee. “There are bills hanging out there that people want to see move to the floor. But they’re getting caught up in other political agendas and time is running out.”