Allegheny County officials say they are imposing a hiring and spending freeze because of the ongoing state budget impasse. But if they had any sense – of propriety and of responsibility — they’d seize the opportunity to make permanent any and all austerity measures.
And the proof that such a thing is possible comes straight from county spokeswoman Abigail Garner:
“The Allegheny County budget has been carefully managed this year and has strong liquidity, but due to the delay in passing a state budget and the threat of a federal shutdown, we are asking staff to hold off on hiring open, non-critical positions and pause discretionary spending where possible,” she said in a statement.
Well, if those positions are “non-critical” and there’s “discretionary spending” – that is, by definition “non-essential and/or “optional” – it should be excised from the county budget permanently.
No ifs, ands, ors or buts.
That would send the strongest of messages that Allegheny County government is a government of, by and for the people – not the government.
And the award for Worst Optics in Support of a University-wide Reorganization goes to …
Penn State.
Smack dab in the middle of a most necessary move to close seven regional campuses and make other cuts, the school’s board of trustees awarded President Neeli Bendapudi a 47 percent salary increase — a $450,000 annual increase to $1.4 million.
“You can’t cry poor one minute and then splurge the next,” says Frank Gamrat, executive director of the Allegheny Institute. “Any belt-tightening should start at the top.”
The hefty raise makes Bendapudi the second-highest paid public university leader in the country, second only to the $1.45 million paid annually to the president of the University of Texas at Austin.
Penn State’s board chairman defended the eye-popping raise, saying Bendapudi “has led the university to a balanced budget and more than $560 million through philanthropic commitments, while also continuing to strengthen the Penn State research enterprise and advance Penn State Health — all with a laser-sharp focus on the core academic mission of Penn State.”
But, apparently, a quite-fuzzy focus on the troubling juxtaposition of imposing massive cuts while filling the hopper car of the Penn State train with presidential-bound gravy.
And it’s not merely “bad optics.” It’s stunningly poor form and tone deafness.
“If the president is truly a ‘cost-saving president,’ she would refuse such a lavish raise,” concludes Jake Haulk, president-emeritus of the Allegheny Institute.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
