Parsky was appearing in his capacity as Chairman of the UC Board of Regents, and once again displayed his peculiar talent for undermining Republican policy and political initiatives. The hearing topic, of course, is the Governors plan to stave off ultimate bankruptcy for the state pension system by having new state employees pay into defined-contribution, 401K-style retirement plans like us schleps in the private sector.

As the Associated Press reported yesterday:

“Bay Area firefighters, two widows of policemen and firefighters killed in the line of duty and Jerry Parsky, chairman of the University of California Board of Regents, also testified against the idea. Parsky, a major financier appointed to the board by Gov. Pete Wilson in 1996, coordinated President Bush's 2004 presidential campaign in California. He told the committee the plan would "put us at a noncompetitive disadvantage for hiring faculty" and noted that UC's pension system, unlike those of the state and many local governments is fully funded to pay its retirement bills.”

We expect the Democrats oppose the Governor because his plan weakens public employee unions and undercuts their use of CalPERS and CalSTERS as clubs to beat corporations into adopting pro-union and pro-left wing policies and practices. After all, they’re only acting according to their nature and principles, such as they are.

That Gerry Parsky – self-styled savior of the California Republican Party and self-proclaimed Bush’s-Best-Friend-In-California – would join the Democrats in opposing Schwarzenegger is something of a shock. Is he so clueless that he fails to realize the media impact of a “key Bush ally” giving aid and comfort for Democrat and union opposition to a rational Republican plan to reform the unaffordable public pension system?

For once, we don’t think Gerry is that clueless. We think he doesn’t care he is harming a key California Republican reform. Like the Democrats, he is acting according to his nature – money. Principles be damned.

The key paragraph from the Associated Press story:

“Parsky’s investment firm, Aurora Capital, also handles $100 million worth of investments for the state’s largest pension fund, the $186 billion California Public Employees Retirement System.”

Hmmm. Don’t you think Gerry might have disclosed this little tidbit to the committee, since it casts just a smidgen of doubt upon his objectivity, not to mention his laughable concern that the UC system won’t be able to attract qualified faculty to jobs on sunny California campuses.

The curious among our readers might want to follow these links to for some more info on Parsky’s incredible conflict-of-interest in testifying to the Assembly Committee against the Governor’s pension reform (a conflict Gerry could have easily avoided by recusing himself and asking the Vice Chair of the UC Regents to testify instead):

• The most recent data on the CalPERS website shows Parsky’s private equity fund (Aurora Capital) manages $100 million in CalPERS money (listed as Aurora Equity Partners LP -- $25 million and $75 million investments)
http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/investments/assets/equities/aim/private-equity-review/aim-perform-review/home.xml

• CalPERS paid Parsky’s Aurora Capital roughly $1.25 million in fees during 2001, $1.35 million during 2002, and $1.27 million during 2003 (the last year on record).
http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/about/press/news/invest-corp/discloses.xml

• Aurora’s website admits it invests money from leading public pension funds.
http://www.auroracap.com/subpages/overview.html

Funny how Parsky didn’t think it was relevant to tell the committee of his vast CalPERS holdings and the millions in fees his firm has made off of CalPERS.

Which leads us to some salient points raised and made by Parsky’s disturbing and self-damning testimony:

• The Gerry Parsky testifying against the need for public pension reform is the same Gerry Parsky who declared – the same week that signatures were turned in – that the Gray Davis recall wouldn’t and shouldn’t qualify for the ballot.

• Was Parsky opposition to the recall due to the selfish erception that replacing Gray Davis with a Republican governor would diminish Gerry’s political stature?

• Similarly, is Parsky’s opposition to Schwarzenegger’s pension reform due to a selfish perception that is would negatively affect his bottom line?

• Are we seeing a pattern here?

It didn’t matter to Parsky then that Gray Davis cost taxpayers billions of dollars in red ink. It doesn’t matter to Parsky now that CalPERS is being subsidized by taxpayers in this year’s budget by $2.6 billion. It has apparently never mattered that in both instances the taxpayers get shafted.

It’s all about Gerry, after all.

Talk about corporate greed.