Pennsylvania
Related: About this forumWhere's the work?: It’s hard to justify Corbett adviser Ron Tomalis’ high salary
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial)
July 30, 2014 12:00 AM
By the Editorial Board
During the two years that Ron Tomalis was state education secretary, he was one of the most visible members of Gov. Tom Corbetts Cabinet, running one of the largest departments and serving as the public face of significant administration efforts.
But since his reassignment 14 months ago as the governors special adviser on higher education, he has been nearly invisible to the public. Just what tasks Mr. Tomalis has been accomplishing to earn his $139,542 salary arent clear either. For an administration that was recently faced with a $1.5 billion deficit, its hard to see how such spending can be justified.
Officials in the governors office and at the education department werent eager to answer questions about Mr. Tomalis until it was obvious that a report by the Post-Gazettes Mary Niederberger and Bill Schackner was to be published. Their article in Sundays editions explained that Mr. Tomalis work calendar from June 1, 2013, to June 1, 2014, shows weeks and months with little activity, including 20 weeks that appear to have no work-related appointments. It listed some meetings in which he did not participate.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2014/07/30/Where-s-the-work/stories/201407300027#ixzz393ZmY3gz
Divernan
(15,480 posts)(Rest of editorial, since PG limits access to it's website)
E-mail records were similarly scant. He wrote five that were released, and the department withheld two others as exempt from disclosure under the Right to Know law without saying whether he wrote or received them. His phone log showed an average of barely more than one call per day, most of them lasting two minutes or less.
Mr. Tomalis initially was to oversee and implement recommendations from the Governors Advisory Commission on Post-Secondary Education, including expanding access to college for non-traditional groups and keeping tuition costs down. Its hard to imagine how he could do so given that officials at Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Commission on Community Colleges said theyd had no contact with Mr. Tomalis. Officials at the State System of Higher Education, with 14 state-owned universities, could verify just three discussions with him.
So what was he doing?
Acting Education Secretary Carole Dumaresq said state funds were not available for some of the work proposed by the higher education commission, so some responsibilities with K-12 education were given to Mr. Tomalis. Even in that area the state provided no written examples of his work product.
Obviously, hes kept a very low profile, Ms. Dumaresq told the Post-Gazette. Maybe that should change. Despite that, she is satisfied with Mr. Tomalis performance. Surprisingly, the governors policy chief said Mr. Corbett is, too.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2014/07/30/Where-s-the-work/stories/201407300027#ixzz393behX7B