Former House Speaker Steve Sviggum’s short time on the University Board of Regents is coming to an end.
U of M governing board Chairwoman Linda Cohen announced today that she will ask him to resign and, before leaving the boardroom, Sviggum told the board he would comply with such a request.
As he walked out, he passed out a statement saying he would resign.
It's unclear, though, when the resignation will take effect or when a new regent will be named. Cohen said the timing is up to Gov. Mark Dayton and the Legislature.
A regent since last year, Sviggum took a high-level job with the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus in January, which many on the board saw as a conflict of interest with his position as a regent.
His post as executive assistant and communications director to the Senate Republicans pays $102,000 each year. Cohen said on Thursday she wasn’t surprised Sviggum decided to keep the job because it suits him and his political experience so well.
After receiving both internal and external legal opinions about Sviggum’s dual roles, an ad hoc committee of the regents last week unanimously declared the situation a conflict of interest and recommended the full board require Sviggum to choose between them.
At today’s board meeting, Sviggum was subdued and, at times, extremely emotional in his comments.
"Fellow board members, there's that line about fighting city hall," he said. "Well, for those who thinking fighting city hall is tough, try fighting the University of Minnesota Board of Regents."
At the crux of Sviggum and the board’s disagreement are conversations in mid-January where Sviggum said university officials OK’d his post in the Senate. Cohen and others, including Regents Vice Chairman David Larson, completely disagree.
“I’m here to tell you that that’s absolutely untrue,” Larson had said at the ad-hoc committee meeting. “That is completely untrue.”
Sviggum cited a statement drafted in response to the university’s two legal opinions from General Counsel Mark Rotenberg and outside attorney John Stout. The former legislator said he had the choice between confrontation and cooperation.
“The choice of confrontation is an opinion to Mr. Stout and Mr. Rotenberg’s opinion that I believe my attorney drives a hole so big through that Regent Larson, you could run for a first down in that hole,” he told members of the board.
Appearing to choose cooperation in his decision to resign, Sviggum still left the memo with reporters as he left.
Sviggum skipped the impassioned defense he made at the ad hoc committee hearing and instead thanked several regents who had shown him support during what he called a tough month.
He also talked about the emotional toll fighting the board had taken on his life — from getting an independent legal opinion in his defense to testifying on his behalf.
The former Republican House speaker said he could tell from their body language that many regents did not support him. He thanked friend and former state Rep. Laura Brod, now also a regent, for her call of support.
“I can see members move from one side of the room to the other side of the room because they don’t want to sit by me,” he said.
Board members who spoke in defense of forcing Sviggum to choose between the two posts said their stand was nothing personal but was meant only to ensure the public viewed the university's governance with integrity.
Sviggum was the subject of a similar investigation last March that ultimately led the board to change its policy this year. He was forced to choose between a fellowship with the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and his post at a regent.
This time, Sviggum chose his job over the regent post. At times, he seemed to cry throughout today's short meeting.
When asked if she'd ever seen such emotion at a regents meeting, Cohen said, "Probably not.”