Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Logo of The Spectrum
Friday, March 29, 2024
The independent student publication of The University at Buffalo, since 1950

Tripathi Didn't Get JCOPE Approval To Join BNP

UB says he didn't need it, calls SUNY policy ÒinaccurateÓ

Wednesday's column asked if President Satish K. Tripathi had followed SUNY policy when he joined the board of directors of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and accepted $265,000 in private salary from the UB Foundation and the SUNY Research Foundation on top of his $385,000 state salary.

SUNY regulations stipulate that Tripathi would have had to get approval from the state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) before doing either of those things.

He didn't. But UB's position is that he didn't have to because SUNY's policy is "inaccurate."

Buffalo Niagara Partnership

Here's the SUNY policy (from "Summary of Presidential Compensation, Benefits And Other Terms of Employment") establishing that Tripathi needed JCOPE's approval to join the not-for-profit Buffalo Niagara Partnership's board of directors:

"It is hereby agreed that you may serve on up to two corporate boards of directors for compensation, and an unlimited number of not-for-profit boards without compensation, so long as approval is first obtained from [JCOPE]."

Tripathi doesn't get paid to serve at the Buffalo Niagara Partnership (BNP), but the above excerpt clearly indicates that you still need approval if you don't get paid.

Not according to university spokesman John Della Contrada, who referenced the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) in Tripathi's defense:

"The JCOPE regulations on ‘Outside Activities' (Title 19 NYCRR Part 932) require JCOPE approval only for a policy-maker seeking to serve as a director or officer of a for-profit corporation or institution. This does not apply to BNP, a not-for-profit corporation. JCOPE approval is not needed to serve on the BNP board."

But, Mr. Della Contrada, the SUNY "Summary of Presidential Compensation" specifically says he needs JCOPE approval to sit on not-for-profit boards.

It doesn't matter, because he said the SUNY policy is incorrect:

"The language you refer to in the SUNY ‘Summary of Presidential Compensation' is inaccurate to the extent that it infers that JCOPE approval is required for membership on a not-for-profit board."

The way I read it, the SUNY policy doesn't "infer" anything; it states quite plainly that you need the approval for not-for-profits. And did you just say SUNY policy is inaccurate? He clarified:

"The language in the SUNY document could be interpreted in two ways. Either the phrase ‘so long as approval is first obtained from [JCOPE]' is intended to mean that approval is sought as necessary, i.e., only for the compensated for-profit board positions. Or it could be interpreted to apply to both the for-profit and not-for-profit board positions. The second interpretation would be wrong, as it is contrary to the regulations."

Well, to me, it looks like Della Contrada's "second interpretation" is not really an interpretation. It's exactly what the policy says (see the second paragraph of this section). His first interpretation requires a certain leap of faith. If the policy doesn't apply to not-for-profit boards, how come it says that it does?

Della Contrada was right about the JCOPE regulations in NYCRR Part 932 – they don't require JCOPE approval for membership on a not-for-profit board such as the BNP. But the SUNY policy does require it. And NYCRR Part 932 also says this:

"Nothing contained in this Part shall prohibit any State agency from adopting or implementing its own rules, regulations or procedures with regard to outside employment which are more restrictive than the requirements of this Part."

So SUNY, a state agency, would be allowed to require JCOPE approval for membership on a not-for-profit board, since that regulation would be more restrictive than NYCRR Part 932, right? Not according to Della Contrada:

"SUNY has not in fact adopted any regulations/rules regarding board memberships for policy-makers that are stricter than the Public Officers Law and its implementing regulations."

It hasn't? Read the SUNY policy again. I'm no lawyer, but I would think that a regulation applying to both for-profits and not-for-profits (SUNY's) is more restrictive than a regulation applying to only for-profits (JCOPE's). Della Contrada continued:

"In addition, I don't think SUNY has legal authority to impose on JCOPE additional duties from those prescribed by law (in other words, the job of approving board memberships that are not required by law to be approved by the Commission). Further, uncompensated membership on a not-for-profit board is not ‘outside employment' within the meaning of the regulations, and this section would not apply to the situation here."

I'm not as convinced. I took the issue to SUNY headquarters in Albany and to a lawyer from the Student Press Law Center (SPLC). I asked SUNY and SPLC if UB's interpretation of SUNY and JCOPE regulations is valid.

I'm waiting to see what both say. The people at SUNY headquarters told me they'd get back to me on Thursday, but they didn't.

And remember what I said in Wednesday's column: JCOPE officials won't tell me anything, because JCOPE (the state ethics board) is inexplicably immune to the Freedom of Information Law.

Tripathi's private compensation

Here's the part of the SUNY policy relating to Tripathi's private salary:

"All presidents must obtain the prior approval of the Chancellor (or designee) and [JCOPE] before…engaging in any private employment, business or other activity for more than $4,000 annually."

Tripathi got the approval he needed from the SUNY chancellor, but not JCOPE.

The UB Foundation – despite its inseparable attachment to a public institution – has maintained its immunity to the Freedom of Information Law and its status as a private, not-for-profit corporation, so, logically, being listed as an employee who makes $150,000 per year at such an agency would count as "private employment."

Della Contrada provided the following argument for why Tripathi doesn't need JCOPE approval:

"JCOPE approval is not required for non-State compensation that is part of the President's employment agreement, which is negotiated and approved by the Chancellor and the SUNY Board of Trustees. The President's compensation is required to be reported in his annual financial disclosure statement to JCOPE."

For that explanation, Della Contrada didn't cite any laws, codes, rules, or regulations.

UB's says Tripathi didn't need JCOPE's approval to join BNP or receive gobs of private money. It's unclear whether that is true.

If it isn't true, then Tripathi and UB broke the rules.

If it is true, then there are two possibilities:

Either SUNY's rules are "inaccurate," or Tripathi and UB are above the rules.

Email: luke.hammill@ubspectrum.com


Comments


Popular









Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Spectrum