Cal State chairman fails to win Senate confirmation
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Faced with opposition from Republicans, Gov. Jerry Brown’s appointment of Herbert L. Carter to the California State University Board of Trustees failed to win state Senate confirmation Monday in the last session before it expires.
Senate Democratic leaders canceled a confirmation vote after Republicans signaled they would not provide the two votes needed for the required two-thirds majority approval.
Republicans objected that Carter, as board chairman, had participated last year in raising student fees by 12% while giving the president of the San Diego campus a $400,000 pay package.
‘The Republicans locked down. I think it’s unfortunate,’ said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). ‘I know that Herb Carter has all the background, the passion and the history with California’s higher education system to continue to be an excellent chair. He cast one vote that was controversial.’
Republicans said the cancellation of the vote saved Democrats the embarrassment of having some of their own members vote against Carter, but Steinberg said he is confident his side would have delivered all Democratic votes.
The governor reappointed Carter to the board last year but needed Senate confirmation within a year or Carter must step down. The 365th day is Wednesday and the Senate does not plan any more sessions before then, Steinberg said.
Brown said last week that Republicans were ‘petty’ but that he was prepared to make another appointment if Carter was not confirmed. ‘He’s a good man,’ Brown said. ‘But of course, the reserve of good appointments is very large.’
-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento
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--Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento
