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Senate Democrat Jack Scott named to lead California community colleges
By Judy Lin - jlin@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, May 9, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3
Sen. Jack Scott has great influence over California schools and universities as chairman of the Senate Education Committee. He will leave office in November. Brian Baer / Sacramento Bee file, 2007
A former college president-turned-lawmaker has been named the next chancellor of California's community college system, making him think twice about his role in crafting the education budget.
Sen. Jack Scott, a soft-spoken Democrat who was president of Pasadena City College before joining the Legislature, holds great sway over education policy in California as chairman of the Senate Education Committee and the budget education subcommittee.
On Thursday, the California Community Colleges board of governors appointed Scott to a $198,500-a-year job after he leaves the Legislature in November. He will start Jan. 1.
"I will simply exercise caution and prudent judgment," particularly on any areas that "specifically impact the chancellor's office," Scott said.
The 74-year-old Altadena senator said he researched potential conflicts of interest before accepting the job. Lawmakers can't lobby the state for one year after they get out of office.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appoints 17 members to the community colleges board of governors, which in turn picked Scott to replace interim Chancellor Diane Woodruff.
Rachel Cameron, a spokeswoman for the governor, said there was no conflict because Schwarzenegger did not directly appoint Scott. And state law only forbids a sitting member of the Legislature from being appointed to a Cabinet-level position, which does not include the chancellor's job.
In 2000, former Gov. Gray Davis appointed Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni to be California's education secretary one week after she was termed out of office.
Schwarzenegger praised the selection in a statement Thursday: "California community colleges serve a vital role in preparing our state's future workforce, and the board of governors could not have chosen a more qualified or highly respected candidate than Sen. Jack Scott."
About the writer:
- Call Judy Lin, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1115.
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