Rich get richer

Many are predicting that next year’s state budget deficit will grow to $7 billion, but that hasn’t stopped the University of California from its habit of handing out big salaries to high-ranking executives. At their monthly meeting, held last Thursday in Irvine, the regents agreed to hire Barbara F. Perry as UCSD’s director of government research relations, at an annual salary of $192,000, plus a “coach-fare house-hunting trip,” moving expenses, and a mortgage loan not to exceed $1.33 million. Perry has been director of the office of federal relations at the University of Washington, serving as the university’s chief lobbyist. The regents also voted to approve a raise of $59,800 for Angela Scioscia, bringing her annual salary to $374,800; including other benefits and payments, her total yearly cash compensation will be $487,240. Scioscia, an M.D., is UCSD’s chief medical officer. … Maybe the chaos on Wall Street is getting to the editors at Forbes magazine. How else to explain the publication’s wacky comments about the Chargers hanging on in San Diego, despite the widely shared belief that the team is almost surely destined for points north. “There is a good chance that Dean Spanos, who now runs the team for his father, Alex, will be able to negotiate a deal for a new stadium,” claims Forbes in its annual football business roundup. “Dean is more liked by taxpayers than his father who, correctly or not, was perceived as greedy by local media. That means a new stadium in San Diego with a 50-50 split in private-public financing is possible. The Chargers also have more leverage with each passing season. The team can exit antiquated Qualcomm Stadium after the 2008 season by paying off the rest of their lease (annual rent is $2.5 million), and the buyout price drops considerably after 2011.”