It’s more fun to spend when nobody’s watching.

You want to know why a school might want to change a state’s pesky Open Records law?  Read through this story about what the University of Illinois spent on its search for a new athletic director – the search only, mind you – and you’ll get an idea.

All told, the cost to keep those interviews far from prying eyes in Illinois exceeded $11,000 — from the limousine service that shuttled candidates back and forth, to the Indianapolis Airport ($1,096.52) to the breakfast and lunch buffets at the hotel ($3,854), to dinner for 12 at restaurants like Prime 47 steak house ($987.31, including the $160 tip).

That doesn’t include more than $11,000 spent on the flights, hotel rooms and other travel expenses for candidates themselves.

Maybe that’s the kind of recruiting the Georgia legislature had in mind when it passed SB 323.

(h/t)

12 Comments

Filed under It's Just Bidness, Political Wankery

12 responses to “It’s more fun to spend when nobody’s watching.

  1. Dog in Fla

    “dinner for 12 at restaurants like Prime 47 steak house ($987.31, including the $160 tip).”

    Not even a 20% tip with OPM?

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    • Jim

      Gratuity probably included for a party that large. And ~$75/head at that restaurant is very reasonable. I’ve had business dinners there that tripled that depending on the wine being ordered. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. Didn’t read article but $11k in expenses for one of the most important jobs at a major university doesn’t strike me as much at all. Our out of pocket expenses when working on behalf of a client are typically $75k and the client happily reimburses every dime given the results we produce.

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  2. Just Chuck (The Other One)

    Is Illinois not the state where the legislature is feuding with the governor and has failed to pass a state budget? Universities were cutting programs and positions and, at least one was threatening to close due to lack of funds. Think they just recently approved funding for universities but still don’t have a budget for other most state services.

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  3. 92 grad

    Wait, didn’t mcgoofy just spend $100k for the same process to sign Kirby?

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    • Dog in Fla

      No way. We’re much less than $100k

      “Georgia will pay Carr’s firm $42,175.08 for his work in Georgia landing Smart, according to an invoice obtained by OnlineAthens and the Athens Banner-Herald in an open records request. That covers $40,000 in fees and $2,175.08 for search related expenses. Most of those search related expenses were for hotel, food and travel costs for Carr. Georgia was charged $500 for candidate background checks….

      Georgia’s expenses incurred working to hire Smart — minus the search firm — totalled $674.90 and did not include any trips except to Atlanta, according to information provided by Georgia.”

      http://onlineathens.com/dogbytes/football/2015-12-22/georgia-paid-search-firm-42k-assist-kirby-smart-hire

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  4. The Real Sports show recently had a good show on spending on athletics vs spending on academics. Students living in cars, 1k dollars of tuition/student going towards athletics, only 20 something of 300+ universities made money over the last decade, Rutgers lost over 300M over the last decade, FB coaches are the highest paid state employee in 41 states, etc. It’s out of control.

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  5. illini84

    Go Illini!

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