Embattled SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras is facing a new round of criticism today after the Times Union published audio from 2017 showing him berating an employee when he was a college president. According to the newspaper, the audio was secretly recorded by the employee of Rockefeller College at the suggestion of her United University Professions union representative.
SUNY says the audio emerged from a larger disagreement, and Malatras said he should have been “more measured.” Malatras had already been facing calls to resign after the publication of text messages from 2019 when the longtime aide to former Governor Andrew Cuomo used profanity to smear a woman who would go on to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment.
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, a Democrat, was asked about the situation today on The Capitol Connection with WAMC’s Alan Chartock:
Chancellor Johnson who preceded him, I thought was outstanding. And I felt sorry when she moved on to greener pastures, you know, outside of New York, she went back to Ohio. Yeah, look, it's always better to do a national search, it has more credibility. And look, one of the challenges not just with the SUNY board, but with many of the boards that we have across the state is that they're largely populated by gubernatorial appointments, and especially when you have a very strong governor as you had an Andrew Cuomo, the independence of those boards is compromised. And that's a problem. I think that’s been a problem with the MTA. And you just go down a long list of the various authorities and boards. You could argue a governor's entitled, then you know, then you hold the governor accountable.
But you know, these boards, I think especially, you're right, when you're talking about our academic institutions, they're really meant to be independent. That didn't happen in the case of this selection, not to say that he isn't a bright fellow. People know him and he had been in the SUNY system for a bit as well. But now that question of, you know, what role should the Board of Trustees play vis a vis all the questions raised about his actions, you know, related to everything swirling around Andrew Cuomo. Whether that disqualifies him to continue as SUNY Chancellor. It seems, so far they, the board seems to be backing him up.
But as more calls — I saw Deborah Glick, Chair of the Higher Ed Committee in the Assembly, you know, called for him to step down. The student assembly, I believe, in a sense, had a no confidence vote. So, you know, if that continues, I think, you know, it really is incumbent upon the board to do their own evaluation, perhaps their own investigation, and, you know, don't just fall back on what they initially did, and really decide what's in the best interest of the SUNY system. So, you know, I think there's still more to come with how that saga plays out.
Now, Mr. Comptroller, you have been watching this. Is there a role for the comptroller, who basically looks at money issues: Are they spending it wisely? Are they doing it anything wrong here? Should the comptroller be in a position to say, hey, cut it out, don't do it that way?
Well, I mean, certainly with regard to SUNY, absolutely, yeah. Keep in mind, this was one of the areas where, because of that historic power, you know, the governor with the concurrence of the legislature, reduced our oversight authority with regard to SUNY contracts. You know, and some of this is what contributed, I believe, lack of sufficient oversight to you the economic development scandals, Buffalo Billion and so on, that, you know, resulted in criminal charges for some. Much of that authority, and we talked about this on your show over the years, has been restored, not necessarily all of it, and not by a statutory change, which I hope the legislature will do. But in fairness, I think any of the discussion Malatras’ tenure has not been about any financial misappropriation or impropriety. You know, we continue our audits of SUNY, and we will continue to, but I don't think that's the question that that's pending right now in terms of his tenure.
But you know, it's interesting, Tom DiNapoli. If you look at the way this is all sort of playing out, this board, which has pledged its fealty to Malatras, was appointed by Cuomo. There's still a lot of Cuomo hands on these boards, who are still loyal to the now out of it governor.
True, you know, per, you know, my earlier point, though: the good news there is you know who to hold accountable. The bad news is, especially when you have a change in governor, you have holdover. But I also think that the board, you know, generally speaking, you know, there’s some pretty impressive people on that board starting, you know, with Merryl Tisch. They're savvy, they're smart, they're good New Yorkers, and, you know, certainly as more light is shed on this whole question, I wouldn't be surprised if there might be some change in direction. I think everybody including the SUNY board is hoping to work with Governor Hochul to do the right thing by the system. So you know, let's see how this all plays out. I don't think the final chapter has been written on this one.
