VIDEO: Under Surveillance
Hey, CalPERS, you’re being watched!
Who’s got their number? The investigative folks at nakedcapitalism.com.
And we’re glad they do—the site has uncovered signs of serious shortcomings in CalPERS’ governance, such as the refusal of staff in open board sessions to answer questions posed to them by board members, as well as the fact that CalPERS for years awarded its CEO’s bonus and pay increases in secret, or what is called “closed session,” in violation of California’s Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.
In its new series on a recent CalPERS private equity workshop, the giant pension fund engaged in a fresh set of transgressions in how it handled efforts of members of the public to provide input on the workshop. Bear in mind that Bagley-Keene articulates and implements the broad language of the California state constitution regarding transparency in government.
However, accroding to the site, these abuses “pale in comparison to systematic, flagrant, and apparently long-standing violations of Bagley-Keene, that of having an appreciable amount of the Board’s business conducted out of the public eye, via a procedure known in law as ‘serial meetings.’ This practice was revealed at a meeting of CalPERS’ Governance Committee, during an hour-long session of complaints about board member JJ Jelincic’s practice of asking detailed questions during open board meetings and requesting documents.”
CalPERS’ latest board meeting can be watched above. Sure, it’s long, but it’s worth at least a partial watch.
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