Illinois state Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) recently filed a house resolution asking the Illinois Auditor General to initiate a performance audit of state money awarded to the College of DuPage.
Ives filed the resolution in response to the college board of trustees' decision to pay over $750,000 to President Robert Breuder for a contract buyout.
The severance package would award Breuder $762,868 in the event he voluntarily retires as president. His current contract with the university expires in 2019. The package also stipulates the new Homeland Security Education Center will bear his name.
"I was sickened to learn about the golden parachute deal that was offered to Dr. Breuder,” Ives said. “This is Alex Clifford from Metra all over again, and the taxpayers of Illinois deserve better than to be saddled with this type of a sweetheart deal."
Ives said the severance deal was not made public so the state taxpayers were not provided an opportunity to review the information or comment on it.
"By forcing these deals to be published ahead of time, elected officials who are not acting in the taxpayers’ best interests can be held accountable before detrimental contracts are signed," Ives said.
The resolution's proposed audit would cover 2011-14.
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