Foundation’s move to new office sets off alarms for regents

By Jeff German (contact)

Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.

By Jeff German

Las Vegas Sun

Concerned over being left in the dark about the UNLV Research Foundation's six-figure move to a new office, university system regents Monday sought to clarify their oversight role in all nonprofit foundations within the system.

"Nobody knows the role of these foundations and what they're allowed to do and what they're not allowed to do," said Regent Steve Sisolak, who heads the Board of Regents' audit committee.

"Dealing with a foundation should be the same as dealing with the Board of Regents and the university system. All transactions need to be done in the light of day."

Both Sisolak and Regent Mark Alden said there was confusion Monday among the regents about whether they should have been informed that the Research Foundation was spending nearly $165,000 on furnishings in the move and planning to take out a $125,000 loan to pay for the majority of the items, some of which were described by Sisolak as "a little lavish."

The items, records show, include a $4,500 58-inch plasma television, a $5,660 11-foot-high glass mosaic, a $12,344 custom-made conference table, $9,100 in limestone tile and $15,600 in vinyl and exotic wood wall coverings.

"There are a lot of questions about this transaction and not many answers," Sisolak said.

Alden, a certified public accountant, said UNLV general counsel Richard Linstrom told him the financing behind the move is being put on hold while attorneys attempt to define what authority the regents have over the foundation.

"They're not going to proceed any further until they get a legal opinion of what they can and can't do without board approval," Alden said.

The man the regents are looking to for answers, Bart Patterson, the Nevada System of Higher Education's chief legal counsel, was off Monday and unavailable to provide guidance.

UNLV officials said the Research Foundation has cash on hand to begin moving into its new 2,700-square-foot office suite Tuesday. The suite is in a business complex across the street from the 115-acre Harry Reid Research and Technology Park that the foundation is planning for UNLV on West Sunset Road near Durango Drive.

Linstrom declined comment Monday, referring a telephone call to UNLV spokesman Dave Tonelli, who could not say whether the regents should have been notified about the Research Foundation's effort to obtain the $125,000 loan.

Tonelli said the foundation won approval for the loan from its lender, Wells Fargo Equipment Financing Inc., but has yet to obtain the approval of its own 11-member board, which includes UNLV President David Ashley, other UNLV officials and several prominent businesspeople.

Ashley said the foundation's executive director, Bud Pittinger, plans to seek the board's approval at its next meeting on Feb. 23.

The foundation's board, Ashley said, already has approved the budget for the move.

"In my opinion, the board is operating appropriately in the role of the oversight of the Research Foundation and the supervision of the executive director," Ashley said.

Ashley said he did not see "anything unusual" about Pittinger's attempt to obtain a loan to pay for office furnishings. Although the foundation last year obtained a $1 million Energy Department grant, Pittinger has said he believes the organization can "manage cash flow more effectively" by borrowing the money for the move.

"He's preserving his cash by suggesting this," Ashley said.