Press release on Judge Cunningham case

It took yours truly awhile to locate the university statement on the Judge Cunningham settlement.*  But here it is:

University News

University of California and Judge David S. Cunningham III reach a settlement

July 11, 2014

Joint Media Statement

The University of California and Judge David S. Cunningham III today reached a settlement in the dispute arising out of a November traffic stop of Judge Cunningham by UCLA Police officers. Both UCLA, an educational institution committed to public service, and Judge Cunningham, a public servant and educator, have a mutual desire to use this as an opportunity to deepen understanding, raise the quality of police-community interactions and provide positive outcomes that enhance diversity and opportunity in our community. To those ends, UCLA and Judge Cunningham have agreed to a mutual release of any legal claims arising from the traffic stop. The release will be followed by:

-    A $150,000 payment by the University to Judge Cunningham and his counsel;

-    A one-day Community Forum/Day of Dialogue conference at UCLA Law School promoting discussion and dialogue around the issue of police/community relations, with emphasis on the issue of understanding diversity, bias, public engagement, racial profiling and effective strategies for ensuring equity in policing;

-    Continued training for all UCLA Police officers on issues including understanding diversity, bias, public engagement and use of force; and

-    Establishment of a $350,000 scholarship fund, “The David S. Cunningham, III Scholarship for Civil Rights,” administered by the UCLA Black Alumni Association, for the support of undergraduate or law students.

UCLA is committed to healthy relationships with the broader community and generating insight into the challenges of equity and justice that impact our diverse communities. Judge Cunningham is a distinguished jurist, lawyer and advocate for equity, inclusion and opportunity. Both parties are eager to use this as a teachable moment that provides greater insight into important issues, increased educational opportunities and improved relations between law enforcement and the public. This civic-minded agreement serves the best interest of the entire community and settles the matter to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.

Source: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/university-of-california-and-judge-david-s-cunningham-iii-reach-a-settlement 
---
*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2014/07/judge-arrested-by-campus-police-for.html

UCLA History: Powell

Lawrence Clark Powell, university librarian, circa 1950

Judge Arrested by Campus Police for Driving While Black Gets Payout from UCLA

Blog readers will know of the sad tale of Judge Cunningham who made the mistake of driving while black in Westwood and was arrested by campus police.  (Yes, in Westwood, not on campus.)  Anyway, you will also recall that UCLA asserted after a self-investigation that nothing wrong had been done.  But now, the tune seems to have changed:

From the Daily Bruin: A Los Angeles Superior Court judge reached a settlement with the University of California over a $10 million claim for damages he filed against university police in February in which he said two UCPD officers used excessive force after stopping him in Westwood for a seatbelt violation.
 
The settlement includes a $150,000 payment to Judge David S. Cunningham III and his counsel, and the setup of a $350,000 scholarship fund called “The David S. Cunningham III Scholarship for Civil Rights” for undergraduate and law students, according to a statement by the university and Cunningham’s lawyer released on Friday. The fund will be administered by the UCLA Black Alumni Association.
 
As part of the agreement, UCPD must also hold continued trainings for officers on issues such as “understanding diversity, bias, public engagement and use of force.”
Cunningham filed an excessive force complaint in November after being pulled over by two UCPD officers, Kevin Dodd and James Kim, who allegedly shoved Cunningham against the side of his car, handcuffed him and put him in the back of their patrol car for not wearing a seatbelt...  [The article also has a link to part of the settlement agreement.]

Full story at http://dailybruin.com/2014/07/11/la-judge-uc-reach-settlement-over-10m-damages-claim-against-ucpd/

From the LA Times: ...In a joint statement released Friday, UCLA and Cunningham said they "have a mutual desire to use this as an opportunity to deepen understanding, raise the quality of police-community interactions and provide positive outcomes that enhance diversity and opportunity in our community."

"Both parties are eager to use this as a teachable moment that provides greater insight into important issues, increased educational opportunities and improved relations between law enforcement and the public," the statement said. "This civic-minded agreement serves the best interest of the entire community and settles the matter to the mutual satisfaction of the parties." ...
 
The $150,000 Cunningham and his attorney will receive comes from UC's self-insured risk program, and the scholarship money will come from other campus sources, [university] officials said.

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-ucla-cunningham-20140712-story.html 

Note: Don't think that because the $150,000 comes from the "self-insured risk program" it is costless.  Self insured means UCLA is paying for it.  As for the scholarship, it is unclear what "other campus sources" means but, again, money has to come from somewhere.

Previous references to this matter are at:
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/11/an-arresting-development.html
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/11/unsolicited-follow-up-for-our.html
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/11/unsolicited-thanksgiving-advice-for.html
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/12/unsolicited-suggestion-for-traffic-stop.html
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2014/02/dig-deeper-hole.html

At least the UC pension doesn't have CalPERS-type problems

As we have noted, the state mechanically funds CalPERS and thus makes an automatic contribution to the CSU pension system.  But the state is reluctant to concede any such obligation to UCRP.

Could that be an "honest" mistake? At least UC's pension doesn't have the kinds of problems seen at CalPERS (see below).  If you had to choose between them, which plan would you favor?

The first two payments were made in paper bags. The last installment came in a shoebox. The handoffs all came at a Sacramento hotel near the Capitol.

In a stunning admission covering years of corruption, the former chief executive of CalPERS said Friday he accepted $200,000 in cash, along with a series of other bribes, from a Lake Tahoe businessman who was attempting to influence billions of dollars in pension fund investment decisions...

Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/11/6549921/former-calpers-chief-pleads-guilty.html

A shoebox? Are you sure it wasn't a tin box?

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/11/6549921/former-calpers-chief-pleads-guilty.html#storylink=cpy

Regents Will Get Out of Painted Corner

As predicted on this blog, the Regents - who painted themselves into a corner by "balancing" an anti-Israel student regent with a successor pro-Israel student regent - will endorse their latest nominee next week at their mid-July meeting:

The University of California’s Board of Regents announced yesterday that it will move forward with its confirmation of Jewish, pro-Israel student Avi Oved as student regent-designate, even as the student association that previously supported him voted 10-0 to delay his confirmation pending an investigation into conflict of interest allegations.

In a letter addressed to Kareem Aref, the president of the UC Student Association (UCSA), Board of Regents chairman Bruce Varner and regent George Kieffer wrote that Oved’s confirmation vote will “move forward at the July Regents meeting” next week in San Francisco, notwithstanding accusations of improper ties between the UCLA junior and local philanthropist Adam Milstein. Those ties were revealed when, at a June 28 UCSA meeting, Amal Ali—past president of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UC Riverside—shared emails between Oved and Milstein that the former says were hacked from his account...

Varner and Kieffer, though, wrote in their letter to UCSA, “Even if all the allegations raised against Mr. Oved are true, they clearly would not constitute a violation of the UCLA election code,” which places no restrictions or reporting requirements on student candidates’ campaign funding sources...

Full story at http://www.jewishjournal.com/los_angeles/article/uc_regents_plan_to_confirm_pro_israel_ucla_student_avi_oved

See also http://dailybruin.com/2014/07/11/board-of-regents-to-move-forward-with-vote-on-student-regent-designate/

UCLA History: Dedication

Dedication of Kerckhoff Hall in 1930

Crunching the State Cash Statement for 2013-14

 

The state controller's cash statement for the last fiscal year, 2013-14, which ended on June 30, 2014.  You can find it at sco.ca.gov/Files-ARD/CASH/fy1314_july.pdf

The key line to look at is the one at the bottom of the table below and is labeled "Ending Reserves."  As can be seen, the state ended with a positive reserve balance of $2 billion for the first time in Gov. Brown's current term.  If you take the cash receipts and disbursements - with some adjustment for the assumed voter approval of a "rainy-day" fund - next year will be back in negative territory.  One thing to note, however, is that the governor pushed for "conservative" revenue estimates for 2013-14 when the budget for that year was being passed.  Doing so tends to push the legislature to spend less.  There was then a "surprise" when more revenue actually came in than was forecast.  He likely did the same for the current year.  So the estimated negative balance (regular reserve plus rainy-day fund) might turn out to be positive again despite the negative projection.

On the accrual basis used for the official budget, the reserve combo stays positive at the end of the current fiscal year although it drops.  Thereafter, projections to 2017-18 show total reserves rising by about a billion dollars a year.  Still, the ratio of reserves to spending stays under 5%.  Any kind of economic bump could easily blow out reserves of that magnitude in short order.  Since the Great Recession ended in 2009, forecasts out to 2018 that assume no negative bumps in the economy become increasingly risky, based on historical precedents.  All we can say is that things are quiet now on the budgetary front.  But there are no guarantees it will stay quiet as we project out further and further, rainy-day fund or not.  So the folks in UC headquarters should always have a Plan B ready.

General Fund Cash Flows and Reserves by Fiscal Year

              |                             | Adjusted*

$billions     |  2010-  2011-  2012-  2013- |    2014-

              |   2011   2012   2013   2014 |     2015

-------------------------------------------------------
Starting      |                             |

Reserves**    |  -$9.9  -$8.2  -$9.6  -$2.4 |    +$2.0

              |                             |

Receipts      |   95.5   87.8  103.4  104.0 |    107.5

Disbursements |   93.7   89.2   96.3   99.6 |    111.5

              |                             |

Surplus/      |                             |

Deficit       |   +1.7   -1.4   +7.2   +4.4 |     -4.0

              |                             |

Ending        |                             |

Reserves**    |   -8.2   -9.6   -2.4   +2.0 |     -2.0
--------------------------------------------------------

*Based on cash data from 2014-15 budget.  Starting reserves from controller’s cash data.  Receipts reflect subtraction of $104 million transfer from reserves.  Disbursements reflect subtraction of $3,183 million to reserves.  Ending reserves include regular general fund reserve plus “rainy day” fund.

**Includes “rainy-day” fund.

Source: June cash statements of the California state controller (for data from 2010-11 to 2013-14.  Data on receipts, disbursements, and surplus/deficit from California Department of Finance at:

http://www.dof.ca.gov/reports_and_periodicals/documents/BS_SCH5D_2014.pdf