Legislators split on governor's picks for regents

The DFL-dominated Legislature dealt Gov. Tim Pawlenty a mild rebuff Thursday in its choice of four new members for the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.

The Senate and House, voting as one body, rejected current regents Peter Bell and Cynthia Lesher, both Pawlenty picks. But the legislators approved two other candidates that Pawlenty recommended: Minnetonka psychologist Linda Cohen and U student Venora Hung. Hung, although recommended by the State Regent Candidate Advisory Committee as a student-at-large regent, was selected as the Fifth Congressional District regent, replacing Bell.

Legislators also selected former Senate DFL Majority Leader Dean Johnson to serve as an at-large regent.

Johnson said he was "humbled and almost tearful" after hearing the results of the vote. He said the vote helped restore some of the self-confidence he lost after being defeated for re-election last year. Johnson said he hoped his experience as a legislator will help the university in its dealings at the Capitol, including its budget requests.

Bell, chairman of the Metropolitan Council, said he was disappointed by the vote.

"The most important thing is what's in the best interests of the University of Minnesota," he said. "It's fine today and it will be fine tomorrow. ... But I'm disappointed. ... I think the public expected transparency and fairness and nonpartisanship. The public does not want Democratic or Republican regents."

Student Maureen Cisneros was selected to the student at-large position.

The political wrangle that some had anticipated would accompany the vote did not develop. Still, several Republicans complained that the process by which a legislative committee -- composed of 10 representatives and 10 senators -- either approved the governor's recommendations or sent them back to the governor for revision had been short-circuited.

The committee passed Pawlenty's four recommendations on to the Legislature, recommending only one of the candidates and sending along the other three without a recommendation.

"It's my opinion that we didn't follow the law, the law we created," said Rep. Rob Eastlund, R-Isanti. "It's a process we have once again perverted in the Legislature. We can't live by the rules we create."It is the process we're protesting here," said House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall.

But House Majority Leader, Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, said that the State Constitution and Minnesota statute state that the Legislature, and no one else, has the final say in determining who will become U regents.

Although regent selection has always been the domain of the Legislature, it has long been the subject of political battles. Two years ago, the Legislature decided to give the governor more say over the selection process. The idea was to give the governor a gatekeeper role in forwarding candidates on to the Legislature. Pawlenty chose his regents from a pool of 11 candidates recommended by the state Regent Candidate Advisory Council. The council chose those candidates after sifting through 145 applications for the job.

Norman Draper • 612-673-4547 • ndraper@startribune.com