Dennis Leone to Barb Garwood: The rest of the story

Sent: Monday, July 03, 2006 8:10 PM

Subject: Another Clarification Needed

Hi Barb Garwood --

Hope all is well with you up north. I just read Jeff Chapman's email to you. I assume you know that the Board, at the May Board meeting, rejected my motion to impose a $50,000 spending limitation on Damon Asbury -- and instead -- voted 8-2 (Lazares and myself voting no) to give Damon a $1 million spending limit. I actually introduced the proposed $50,000 spending limitation in April. After the ridiculous 8-2 Board action in May, I whined about it for a month. At the June meeting, Board member Judith Fisher -- the author of the $1 million motion in May -- introduced a new motion to limit Damon's spending authority to $500,000. This was the motion that Ramser amended to $100,000 (which was seconded by Chapman) and approved 5-4 (with Flannagan, Brown, Puckett and Fisher voting no, and with Buser and Meyers being absent.........voting yes were Ramser, Chapman, Billirakis, Lazares and myself).

My other motion -- also first introduced in April -- also was rejected 8-2 in May. That motion merely stated that when Damon and STRS staff place things like vendor contracts and settlement agreements on the agenda for board action, the board should be prohibited from voting on said proposals unless we have the necessary documents (or a summary thereof) in hand before the vote. (Note that I never proposed that every little minor contract be placed on the agenda; rather I said WHEN Damon and the staff placed these things on the agenda.)

It was an embarrassment that the Board rejected this common sense motion 8-2. I thought the Board learned from the $3.2 million bonus check settlement agreement in January when action was taken without clarity on what the vote was..............

Like Jeff Chapman told you, I believe my proposal will be revisited in August or September.

THIS is the rest of the story..

Dennis Leone