Former Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson shared his thoughts on the recent University of Minnesota scandal while speaking with News Talk 830 WCCO’s Chad Hartman.
He also revealed what he hopes Governor Tim Walz will do during his second term and the issues he sees with University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel, calling for her to resign from one of her jobs.
When it comes to Walz, Carlson said he would like to see the governor reach out to Republicans to work on laws that are not affiliated with one party or the other, but instead in the best interest of Minnesotans.
Carlson says this includes policies to protect the state’s natural resources and help reduce the cost of higher education for younger Minnesotans.
Other points Carlson made included calling for the end to public funding of sports stadiums and arenas throughout the state. He pointed to Minneapolis, which is still in debt by $150 million, saying that money could instead be used to help better education in the city.
“Let’s make some hard choices, but I think good public policy translates into good politics. We’ve had enough politics. Let’s focus on good public policy,” Carlson said. “And I think focusing on the young makes a great deal of sense.”
As for his thoughts on Gabel, Carlson spoke openly about the U of M president taking a new role with the board of Securian Financial, calling it a conflict of interest.
Gabel has commented on the role, saying she would be doing it on "her lunch break," something Carlson and others have been skeptical of, being that it pays six figures.
“I don’t think she should occupy both positions,” Carlson said. “I served as chairman of the board of what is now Columbia funds, and I’m aware of the conflict of interests involved.”
Carlson says that the position with Securian that Gabel has taken is a direct conflict of interest, noting that “you can’t serve two masters at the same time.”
“You can’t serve the interest of the employees who invest in the retirement funds and then at the same time invest in the provider. That is a blatant conflict,” Carlson said.
He also said that the nine regents who were behind her taking the job should be dismissed, as their first priority should be the well-being of students. He says they did not ask for one legal opinion about conflicts before making the decision.
“All we have seen from this board of regents and from President Gabel has been almost an obsessive amount of time being spent on how we make her and administrators more affluent than they currently are,” Carlson said.
When it comes to the basic principles of a university, Carlson says the well-being and education of students should be at the forefront.
This is something that isn’t happening, as he says that 70% of students at the University of Minnesota are stressed about affording housing while 20% are stressed about affording food.
“Either decide to serve the students or decide to serve the needs of Securian Financial. Secondly, I would also recommend that we get a new board of regents and that they start to focus on the well-being of our students, and reduce the president’s pay to the level that we provide for the president of the United States,” Carlson said, adding that it’s “stunning” a public administrator is paid more than the president.
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