Discarded Palin contract sparks investigation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A document fished out of a California state university trash bin last week has prompted a state investigation into the university's foundation arm and its refusal to disclose details related to Sarah Palin's upcoming speech at the school.

On Tuesday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said his office would look into the finances of the California State University, Stanislaus Foundation, as well as allegations that the nonprofit organization violated public disclosure laws by keeping details of Palin's contract secret.

Palin is scheduled to speak at a June 25 gala hosted by the foundation to mark the university's 50th anniversary.

Brown's investigation was prompted, in part, by a group of CSU Stanislaus students who retrieved five pages of the contract from a campus trash bin last Friday after hearing administrators were engaged in shredding documents.

The contract detailed the former Alaska governor's requirements for her visit, including first-class flights from Anchorage to California — if she flies commercial. If not, "the private aircraft MUST BE a Lear 60 or larger ...," the contract specifies.

Palin also must be provided with a suite and two single rooms in a deluxe hotel near the campus in Turlock in the Central Valley. During her speech, her lectern must be stocked with two water bottles and bendable straws.

The document, dated March 16, does not include compensation details for Palin, who commands speaking fees as high as $100,000. Her appearance at the university gala is expected to draw a large crowd, with tickets selling for $500 each.

"This is not about Sarah Palin," Brown said in a prepared statement Tuesday. "The issues are public disclosure and financial accountability in organizations embedded in state-run universities."

Story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_calif_palin_contract

that apparently, the students weren't the ones being investigated ... by a vengeful teahadist cop ...

Here's how the district went from 1996 to 2008:

Election results from statewide races
Year Office Results
2008 President<1> McCain 52.1 - 46.0%
2006 Governor<2> Schwarzenegger 69.3 - 26.6%
Senator<3> Mountjoy 48.6 - 46.8%
2004 President<4> Bush 61.6 - 37.9%
Senator<5> Jones 54.9 - 42.1%
2003 Recall<6><7> Yes 67.9 - 32.1%
Schwarzenegger 52.8 - 23.1%
2002 Governor<8> Simon 56.6 - 35.7%
2000 President<9> Bush 57.6 - 38.2%
Senator<10> Feinstein 47.9 - 45.1%
1998 Governor
Senator
1996 President
1994 Governor
Senator
1992 President Bush 43.5 - 38.1%
Senator Herschensohn 59.1 - 33.6%
Senator Seymour 51.5 - 41.7%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California's_19th_congressional_district

on edit: I found this comment regarding the Stanislaus Foundation's "Crab Feed Dinner" in 2008-

S Michael I agree, Michael, you can certainly get some interesting data from 990s. My point was simply that said 990s will not provide the information Nikki wanted on a specific fundraising event. Nor is there enough data to categorically determine where funds go. They are, after all, summaries not transaction detail.

April 6 at 5:30am
Michael S. Michael - I agree that the Foundation does not HAVE to report on specific events to the IRS.
However they did do so on the specific event they held in 2008 - the crab feed dinner.
For that event, they reported gross revenue of $183,912 and (direct) expenses of $23,904 with a reported net income of $160,008.
If they report according to the same format for 2010-2011, you will be able to ascertain the total expenses associated with the event. You won't be able to see the exact amount paid to Palin, but you'll be able to get a pretty good idea.
Unfortunately, you won't be able to get a copy of the 990 for the year covering that event until probably 2012.
By the way, while the reported income vs expenses for the 2008 "Crab Feed", makes it look like it was a pretty successful event, what was not reported was how much CSU Stanislaus staff time (i. e., taxpayer money) was devoted to the the event.

More on that in a future post.

Michael

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=108411352519824&topic=22

So it looks like we'll have to wait until 2011 or 2012 to examine the Foundation's 990...