Kunal Patel: Gov. Brown must consult advisory committee when appointing regents

Without a doubt, Gov. Jerry Brown has provided concrete results in his most recent term as head of the state. From making tough decisions in the form of budget cuts and temporary tax hikes, Brown has – for the most part – done a fantastic job at balancing the state’s budget.

But amid all that success, Brown has been less successful in following tenets in the California Constitution. He is not adequately following provisions designed to serve as gubernatorial political checks and balances for his University of California Regent appointments.

Specifically Brown has largely failed to follow provisions listed in the California Constitution Article 9, Section 9 (e) seven times when he appointed seven individuals to the Board of Regents, which states that the Governor must consult an advisory committee of 12 members consisting of representatives from the California State Senate, the regents, UC alumni and current students when appointing regents.

When the prevailing critique of the regents is that they are out-of-touch with the needs of both UC students and California residents, upholding this law is essential to ensure that those who run the public higher education system are the right people for the job. And since Brown has not followed the law adequately, there has been effectively no way to make sure that that’s the case. And it has resulted in a Board of Regents made up almost entirely of business professionals with little to no experience in education making decisions that determine the fate of California’s largest and most prestigious public university system.

When appointing members to the Board, Brown’s staff either calls them or sends members of the advisory committee an email or a letter announcing his appointments, said University of California Student Association President and advisory committee member Jefferson Kuoch-Seng in an email. This kind of one-way communication in the form of letters is nowhere near the definition of consultation.

And advisory committee members have noticed, said UC Faculty Association Vice President of External Affairs Joe Kiskis. Several members have been vocal and complained about Brown not following the law, Kiskis said.

But this is not a problem exclusive to Gov. Jerry Brown – this is a systemic problem in which there is very little judicial accountability for those in the upper echelons of public office.

In 2010, Gov. Schwarzenegger broke the same law by not consulting the advisory group when he appointed David Crane as a regent, Kiskis said. And consultation would have been useful in this particular case because the California State Senate chose not to confirm him as a regent, even though Crane had already served a year in his position. That means Crane served as a regent for a year without technically having the job.

And since California governors have not followed this law, another California law has also been broken. California Constitution Article 9, Section 9 (d) states that the regents should be broadly reflective of the economic, cultural and social diversity of the state.

Currently the Board of Regents has only two confirmed appointed members with a background in education. And while there is cultural, ethnic and gender diversity on the Board of Regents, there is little economic diversity on the board. The appointed regents consist almost exclusively of very wealthy individuals including former and current investment bankers, CEOs, chairmen and other high-level executives such as Norman Pattiz, Monica Lozano, Sherry Lansing, Richard Blum, Russell Gould and Paul Wachter.

And because the board lacks economic diversity, the regents’ actions regarding upper management pay, the UC budget and potential tuition hikes strike an emotional chord with students that detract from the real problems, such as continual state divestment from higher education.

Brown cannot argue ignorance of these laws as justification for not following them. Prior to Brown’s election to the Governor’s office, he served as the 31st Attorney General of California. And given that his job description was to ensure that “the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced,” Brown should know what it means to obey and uphold the laws listed in the California Constitution.