Local legislators to review UT spending
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State Sen. Jerry Cooper (D-McMinnville) and state Rep. Charles Curtiss (D-Sparta) will co-chair meetings of the Senate and House Fiscal Review Committee to discuss the findings of a recently released spending audit at the University of Tennessee.
The first meeting takes place this Thursday at 9 a.m. in room 12/14 of Legislative Plaza. Anyone may attend.
The audit, released after Shumaker’s resignation, revealed he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to throw parties, buy extravagant items for his presidential mansion, and travel.
“The Fiscal Review Committee is about the business of accountability,” said Cooper. “We need to get to the bottom of what happened and why it was allowed to occur. The taxpayers who help fund UT are demanding answers.”
In addition to being the highest paid president in UT history, with a salary package around $730,000, Shumaker had ordered close to a half million dollars worth of renovations to his presidential mansion in just over a year on the job. He refused to use a $169 grill provided by the university, instead buying one for $4,800. He purchased a Persian rug for $7,000 and charged a $6,000 personal vacation to Greece to the university.
All of this spending was at the expense of Tennessee taxpayers.
“I don’t think there’s any question it was an embarrassment,” said Curtiss. “One place we’re lacking is we don’t have enough control in place to stop something like this from happening. The purpose of these meetings is to come up with a plan to prevent this from happening in the future.”
Curtiss said legislators may choose to separate the people who audit presidential spending from the university itself. He said an independent agency would not have the same internal pressure as UT employees.
“If you’re one of the people who scrutinize the bills, and you’re a UT employee who is far enough down the food chain, you probably don’t want to say too much,” said Curtiss. “If you do, there’s a good chance they could find a way to get rid of you.”
Cooper said the Fiscal Review Committee will hold at least two meetings to address the UT audit findings. In addition to the meeting this Thursday, the committee will hold a hearing Sept. 4. That meeting, also open to the public, will take place in the same room beginning at 9 a.m.
“We need to discuss the findings in a public setting and get answers to a number of questions,” said Cooper. “It’s important to understand what happened so we can prevent it from happening again.”
Lavish lifestyle
Some of the high-dollar items purchased by former UT president John Shumaker at the taxpayers’ expense:
New mailbox $717
Christmas trees (2) $2,850
Silk flowers $4,192
Refrigerator $6,400
New drapes $6,573
Entertainment system $7,400
Home phone system $30,116
New sunroom $97,350
Tailgate parties $165,000