Scheduling conflicts forced the cancellation of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee hearing on CSU’s Common Management System computer deal with software giant PeopleSoft when Monday’s State Assembly session ran long.

After an hour-long delay while assembly members debated Mark Leno’s anti-transexual-discrimination bill, a handwritten note was taped to the door of the JLAC meeting room stating the cancelled hearing would be rescheduled for a later date.

The JLAC is made up of members of the California Senate and Assembly, so although committee member Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, showed up on time, he vainly tugged on the meeting room’s locked door as the Assembly continued to debate.

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed and Executive Vice-Chancellor Richard West, the major players in the CMS deal, waited outside the meeting room to defend their case, but were sent home like everyone else when the hearing was cancelled.

Last month’s scathing audit of CMS prepared by State Auditor Elaine Howle found that CSU, among other things, underestimated costs, failed to develop a sufficient business plan, and neglected to engage in a competitive bidding process.

The state audit also found that CSU was involved in a possible conflict of interest with former Vice-Chancellor of IT Services David Ernst, who was working as a paid consultant for PeopleSoft while the CMS contract was negotiated and signed.

State lawmakers grilled Reed and West in the first CMS hearing on April 3, and their remarks were frequently barbed. At the first hearing, JLAC committee chair Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, D-Campbell, said, “It is clear that the legislature needs to be more demanding of CSU, and that our trust has been misplaced.”

McClintock said at the April 3 hearing that CSU officials “blissfully tolerated” a “culture of corruption” surrounding the CMS deal. The Republican lawmaker later remarked, “Somebody needs to be fired over this, and I want to know who it is.”

CMS is a computer network upgrade intended to unify information tracking among CSU’s 23 campuses. The university estimated the total costs of implementing the system at $440 million, but the State Auditor placed the overall costs of CMS at $662 million.

Several committee members criticized the CMS deal for taking money away from instructional services, especially with cutbacks and fee hikes looming for California’s colleges.

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