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Palin's speech calls into question California's laws on non-profits

[edit] April, 2010

Turlock, CA Senator Leland Yee has demanded that the private, non-profit CSU Stanislaus Foundation release the records surrounding its contract with Sarah Palin for her planned June 25 speech at the University. Palin's going rate at other events is around $100,000. Yee claims that the funds which are being used to pay for the speech and public funds and should be disclosed. Yee argues that the substantial funding received by the Foundation from government sources, including over $1.5 million in public funds to employees and over $3 million in grants last year, should result in the foundations documents being open.[1] The foundation has denied the FOIA request because university foundations are exempt under the ruling delivered in California State University, Fresno Assn., Inc. v. Superior Court.[2]

[edit] Update:Lawsuits filed

California nonprofit Californians Aware has filed a lawsuit this week alleging that the University itself failed to hand over numerous documents concerning Palin's upcoming speech in June. This lawsuit coming just days after a number of documents were found in the dumpster outside of the University's main administrative building outlining portions of Palin's contract. The University claims that it was never in possession of the documents, and that they were in fact in the possessions of the CSU Stanislaus foundation. However, University president Hamid Shirvani is now claiming that the documents that were allegedly found in the trash were stolen from the offices of one of the University administrators who had thrown them in the recycling in her office months ago. The AG investigation will have to incorporate these new allegations. [3]


[edit] Update:Attorney General to investigate the foundation

The foundation rejected early requests for information by Senator Yee as well as the First Amendment Coalition and Californians Aware claiming that the documents in question were exempt due to contract negotiations. Later, the University officially rejected the request for any information about the event, claiming that it was not in possession of any of the information. However, due to the assistance of some University students, Yee has obtained documentation that the University hid documentation on the Palin speech. Yee released emails documenting communication between university officials concerning the upcoming speech. [4] On Tuesday, April 13, 2010 University students also released documents during a press conference that were found shredded in a public trash bin next to the University's main office. Included in the documents was one 5 page in tact contract for a speaker who went unnamed but would be flying in from Anchorage AK. This destruction of public records has lead the Attorney General to announce that he will begin a full investigation into the University and its relationship with the speaking event.[5]

[edit] Amending the situation

SB 218 is a bill proposed by Senator Leland Yee which would remove the exemption currently in case law established by California State University, Fresno Assn., Inc. v. Superior Court for auxiliary organizations designed to promote state and local schools. It would redefine the definition of public body within the laws to include state and local axillary organizations which are designed to support and promote local schools and state universities. It would however protect the anonymity of donors, unless those donors receive a direct material benefit from their donation. [6] While the bill has growing support due to the heated nature of the current debate, a similar bill, SB 218 was vetoed last year by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. [7]

[edit] A history of problems

This isn't the first issue that California has run into based on its continuing decision to exempt university foundations from public records requests. These foundations which raise and invest billions of dollars, run student and alumni programs and even manage endowments have been under pressure to release documents since the 2001 decision that exempted them from the act. Other current problems include:

  • Sonoma State Foundation made a significant loan to the university president who then defaulted on the loan.
  • California State Sacramento is being audited by the attorney general for similar loans.
  • Fresno State has issued non-bidding contracts to foundation members.
  • The Chancellor at San Jose/Evergreen Community College has been forced to resign due to the lavish use of foundation funds.

These situations highlight the publics inability to monitor these organizations and the high potential for abuse due to their closed nature and their exemption from public records laws. [8]

[edit] How does California stack up

California is not the only state to have dealt with the issue of University Foundations . 4 states have dealt with the issue through court actions, all ruling in favor of the release of University Foundation documents. They include:

In addition the Nevada Open Records Act includes all university and school foundations explicitly in its definition of public body. [9]

However, the Stansilaus Foundation would meet many other states definitions of public bodies. To read more on how the various state's treat private agencies who function like public bodies, see Private agency, public dollars.

[edit] See also

[edit] External Links

[edit] References

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  1. ↑ California Chronicle "Millions in Public Funds Paying for CSU Foundation, Palin Event" 4/21/2010
  2. ↑ San Fransisco Weekly, "How Much Will Sarah Palin Get for CSU Stanislaus Speech? No One's Telling" March 29, 2010
  3. ↑ KCRA, "Lawsuit Targets CSU Stanislaus Over Palin Records" 4/16/2010
  4. ↑ San Fransisco Gate, "Yee says college hid e-mail about Palin speech" 4/8/2010
  5. ↑ San Francisco Gate, "CSU students find Palin papers in garbage" 4/13/2010
  6. ↑ Text of SB 218
  7. ↑ LA Times, "Palin speech at Cal State campus draws attention to foundations linked to universities" 4/13/2010
  8. ↑ The Examiner.com, "CSU Stanislaus administration violates public records act" 4/7/2010
  9. ↑ Nevada Statute 239.005


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