NEWS
Regents under fire once again
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Also by Chris Werner:
- New ticket lottery off to bumpy start (October 22, 2004)
- Whitewater mourns over student's death (September 22, 2004)
- The changing face of UW System leadership (September 1, 2004)
- Crossing the line (April 29, 2004)
- La Crosse student died of alcohol, drowning (April 30, 2004)
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- Regents under fire (October 8, 2003)
- Regents face new investigation into open meetings laws (November 14, 2003)
- UW regents possibly violated laws, according to state AG (March 26, 2004)
by Chris Werner
Friday, October 17, 2003
The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents has fallen under legislative scrutiny once again.
Three Wisconsin lawmakers have called on state attorney general Peggy Lautenschlager to investigate whether the Board has violated the state’s open-meetings law for the second time.
The three legislators, Rep. Rob Kreibich, R-Eau Claire, Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, and Sen. Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis, called for such an investigation after the Board’s Oct. 10 meeting, which the legislators feel was conducted in a vague and inconspicuous manner.
“The only policy the Regents seem to follow these days is evasion. It’s clear they are not following open-meeting laws,” Suder said.
If Lautenschlager concedes to their requests, the board will fall under investigation for the second time within a two month time span, after it was determined the Regents violated the law at their Sept. 2 meeting regarding pay range adjustments for University of Wisconsin System leaders and executives.
“It is clear to me that their notice to go into closed session did not indicate the subject matter they eventually discussed: the settlement they had reached with your office. I am respectfully asking you to investigate this latest potential violation of the open meetings law,” Kreibich wrote in a letter to Lautenschlager.
As a result of the primary violation, Lautenschlager and the board came to an agreement under which the approval of salary adjustments was erased. The board also vowed to better publicize its future meetings, especially those pertaining to salary issues.
Despite this agreement, Suder does not feel the board is complying with the newly adopted policies.
“[They are in] a habit of not giving enough information to the public about meetings and in a habit of evading public scrutiny,” Suder said, adding that the board dodges such criticism with its oddly timed schedule. “Students deserve better.”
Regent President Toby Marcovich and Vice-President David Walsh, however, do not feel they breached their agreement. Instead, they counter that their current process of stating in notices whether they plan to meet with legal counsel in order to tackle any litigation matters is sufficient notice.
Suder feels it is important for the board to abide by these laws because other governing bodies throughout the state follow similar suit.
“Regents are not above the law, but their actions make them think they are,” Suder said, adding that if convicted of another violation, the board could “be subject to any number of punishments by the attorney general.”
