The recording below is a partial one. It begins in the midst of the public comments
session for the first committee session and ends in the midst of the second
committee hearing. Unfortunately, only that
incomplete audio was live-streamed. As
usual, we will request the full day recording from the Regents and post it when
available.
What went on in the legal review/closed door session is not
known. During the public comments, a
lawyer representing a neighbor/business group raised the tax issues with which
readers of this blog will be familiar.
That issue was not really addressed in the subsequent discussion
although some of the uses of the hotel rooms seem to fall into a range that
would raise cautions. Presentations were
made by Chancellor Block, Vice Chancellors Olsen and Powazek, and Academic
Senate Chair Leuchter. University
administrators were obviously supportive.
Senate Chair Leuchter said the Senate endorsed the project and did not
refer to concerns still outstanding on parking rates by the Faculty Welfare
Committee. There were repeated
references to contacts with the Committee and individual Regents during the
March-July interval.
Assurances were given by UCLA that the hotel would cover
costs, that it would have no effect on parking rates, that it wouldn’t
adversely affect local hotels adversely, that the planned occupancy would be
reached, etc. One Regent raised the
question of why alternatives were considered at all if the Luskins would
consider only the current location. The
Committee chair thought that maybe there were more rooms than needed and not
enough conference space – but he supported the project. The approval is technically just for financing with approval
for design details to be approved at the September Regents meeting. Keep in mind that with Chancellor Block staking his reputation on this project after the March debacle at the Regents, for the Committee to reject the project would have been a vote of no confidence - something the Regents were not prepared to to, particularly with the chancellor up for a 5-year review.
=====
Other items considered were an expansion of a medical
facility at UC-Irvine and the general state budget outlook for capital projects. Some skepticism about the costs at Irvine
were expressed but the project was approved by the Committee. Concerns were expressed about the state’s
future role in financing UC capital projects.
(Some interruptions in the audio occurred.)
=====
The session of the Committee on Compliance and Audit
followed. References were made to the
Penn State sports/child molestation scandal as a compliance matter. Audio was cut off during this session before
it was completed.
=====
The lawyer’s statement on the hotel is in the 4-7 minute
range. The full hearing on the hotel
runs from roughly minute 22 to one hour and 24 minutes into the recording. The full recording is about 1 hour and 52
minutes.
Update: The LA Times story on the hotel approval is at
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0718-uc-hotel-20120718,0,3404232.story
Update: The Daily Bruin story on the hotel approval is at
http://www.dailybruin.com/article/2012/07/uc-board-of-regents-approve-funding-for-proposed-luskin-conference-and-guest-center
Update: Although it was pro forma, the full Board of Regents approved the package of Grounds and Business recommendations, including the hotel, around 3 pm on July 18.
Update: Official UCLA announcement at
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/uc-regents-committee-approves-236632.aspx
4 comments:
The part of the discussion dealing with donor intent was particularly interesting, IMHO.
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