Finally, after three years, a bill that would open up the secret foundation records at University of California, Cal State University and community college campuses has been signed into law.
The bill, by Senator Leland Yee, ends a sorry chapter in the history of the state’s public higher-education system, culminating in the refusal of CSU Stanislaus to make public a lucrative speaking contact with Sarah Palin.
These little hands-off foundation fiefdoms can be hotbeds of problems — the City College Foundation was part of a scandal that has lead to criminal charges against the former chancellor, Philip Day. And at the heart of all of this is secrecy: These sorta, kinda, but not really official parts of the UC, CSU and community college systems have been operating without enough oversight for years — and they have insisted that they aren’t public institutions and thus are exempt from public records laws.
Yee has been trying to open up this sleaze pit since 2009, but the former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, vetoed two previous versions.
The law doesn’t actually take effect until January. The schools all ought to start opening their records today.