It all began with a palm-tree caper – now the trustees of MiraCosta College have bestowed a lavish “prize package” on the outgoing president that seems more fitting of a television game show.
According to the San Diego Union Tribune (June 21, 2007), the MiraCosta College President’s “departure ends a year of turmoil that began in May 2006, when she announced an investigation into the illegal sale of palm trees from the campus’s Horticulture Department. Three months earlier, the college had authorized its lawyers to hire a private investigator to look into a whistle-blower’s allegations. The investigation centered on allegations that a college administrator and her fiance had struck a deal to nurture and sell thousands of palm trees donated to the college. Estimates of the investigation’s cost have ranged from $200,000 to $1 million.” The results were “underwhelming… conviction of a former administrator for felony grand theft involving $306.”
You would think that this would be the end of the story as the college president is drummed out of town. However, in this case, you can almost hear a game show host say, “so what do we have for the College President who has embarrassed the school, wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars in a frivolous investigation, and been named in several lawsuits?”
“Well, you would think it would be a one-way ticket out of town, but there is so much more. She will receive lovely parting gifts including ‘$650,000 in damages and $43,500 in attorney fees.’ In addition, the outgoing president will receive ‘her current monthly salary of $18,155 and $3,150 in expenses’ for the next 18 months ‘amounting to $383,490.’ The outgoing president and her husband will also get ‘with health care benefits through age 65.’ And should she take another job, ‘the college will pay the difference between her current benefits and those provided by the new employer.’ All of this plus full indemnity and ‘full legal representation in any litigation now pending or that may be initiated in connection with her employment.’ The overall cost of this prize package is roughly 1.2 million dollars for merely stepping down from her job.” You can almost see the College Trustees jumping in excitement as balloons, streamers and confetti rain down upon the outgoing college president.
Unfortunately, this is not a game show that we reward ineptitude with Don Pardo calling down the next contestant. Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars have been wasted on the frivilous Palm Tree investigation and by the $1.2 million payout to the outgoing college president. Instead of coddling ineptitude with lavish parting gifts, we need to to simplify the process and only use the phrase from another game show Don… “You’re fired!”