Hypocrites of the Week
I was both saddened and amused by this San Jose Mercury News story about Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg calling for a conflict of interest investigation as the result of allegations against CSU Trustee Bill Hauck by the CSU Faculty Association. They’re upset because of Bill’s employment with the California Business Roundtable (CBRT).
I was saddened because this is a blatant attempt on the part of the CSU Teacher’s Union to hurt one of their trustees who doesn’t necessary support all of their opinions. This is just incredible to me. I was amused because it makes Jackie Goldberg and the CSU Faculty Association look like incredible hypocrites.
Just look at the other Trustees. Let’s start with the current vice chair, Roberta Achtenberg. She’s an intelligent person, but she’s also a Senior Vice President for Public Policy for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Isn’t that conflict? What if the SF Chamber doesn’t want the fees raised? She’s very well connected to the Democratic party, having served as National Co-Chair of Clinton/Gore ’92 and ’96. No conflict there I guess.
Or how about Herbert L. Carter? He was a CSU President and a Vice Chancellor. He must have opinions on the matters that come before the Trustees. Debra S. Farar is an educational consultant… she must have thoughts on these issues. What if one of her clients has a position on an issue? Heck Trustee Ricardo F. Icaza is CEO of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local Union 770 and Vice President of the National Union. What if there is an anti-union position that the Trustees want to take. Doesn’t that put Ricardo in conflict of interest?
My point is that assuming Bill Hauck can’t be impartial because he has a day job where he takes positions is ridiculous. If that were the case we’d have nothing but retired and unemployed people serving as trustees.
There can be genuine conflicts of interest for any board. That’s why there are procedures for members to exclude themselves from votes where they have a genuine conflict. Just because there might be a conflict is not sufficient reason to deny someone the right to serve on a board. I didn’t see Jackie Goldberg complain when Joe Nunez was reappointed to the State Board of Education. Joe is the friggin’ Assistant Executive Director of the California Teacher’s Association. The people he manages negotiate for contracts with the very school districts that his board has responsibility to rule over. If that isn’t a conflict of interest, then Bill Hauck’s day job certainly isn’t a conflict of interest either.
Bill Hauck has shown that he isn’t a political idealogue. He’s worked for both Governor Pete Wilson, as Republican as you can get and Speaker Willie Brown, probably at least as opposite on the Democratic side. That doesn’t sound like someone with strong, fixed opinions based on political ideology.
I certainly hope the Joint Legislative Audit Committee will see this move for what it is, a blatantly political attempt to hurt a good man, who has served his state well and who provides a valuable point of view to the CSU Trustees and as the CSU representative said in the article, has had a “tremendously positive ” impact on CSU. That’s why Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg and the CSU Faculty Association are my hypocrites of the week! Congratulations!
Disclaimer: While my daytime employer is affiliated with CBRT, my opinions are entirely my own and I speak for neither for my employer nor CBRT, nor in most cases even my wife. Sometimes I wonder if I even really speak for myself. I’ll ask my wife.
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