Smithsonian Under New Management(Small's salary was over $900,000 this yr)

[maddezmom]

Source: Washington Post

Smithsonian Under New Management

By Jacqueline Trescott and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, March 26, 2007; 1:02 PM

Lawrence M. Small, the banker who took over the Smithsonian Institution seven years ago, was replaced Monday, according to Congressional sources.

Roger Sant, head of the Smithsonian's executive committee, was expected to make an announcement this afternoon.

Small's management of the Smithsonian has been sharply criticized by members of Congress, and his compensation and spending practices have been subjected to scrutiny by the Smithsonian's inspector general. Last week, two separate committees were appointed to look into management operations at the museum complex, which includes 18 museums and research facilities as well as the National Zoo.

Small's spending has been the subject of intense public scrutiny after The Washington Post published details last month from a confidential inspector general's report examining his $2 million in housing and office expenses over the past six years.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600643.html

---

Senate Pushes for Smithsonian Reform

By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 23, 2007; Page C12

In a stern rebuke to Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small, the Senate yesterday voted to freeze a $17 million increase in the institution's proposed 2008 budget.

The budget bill amendment sponsored by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) would keep the freeze in effect until the Smithsonian reforms how business is done in the secretary's office. The measure, which passed on a voice vote, specifically caps salaries for any executive at the Smithsonian at $400,000, the current pay for the U.S. president. Small's compensation this year is $915,698.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201909.html

[Fresh_Start]

1. good first step, now put a lien for $2 million on his

home until he repays the taxpayers.

[hedgehog]

5. hasHe is paid ( I can't write "earns"!) $915,000 a year and he still has

to charge the governmnet for his expenses!

[anotherdrew]

23. make him repay from inside jail, where this damned bush crook needs to go n/t

[Doctor_J]

2. 900K? That's the kind of "government worker" the GOP can relate to

I remember when Newt shut the government down in 95. WJ had on a park ranger who makes $21K and the wingers were calling up and bashing the poor schmo mercilessly for being the embodiment of opulent liberal spending.

[LiberalEsto]

3. Good riddance!

But I'm sure he will pop up somewhere else to milk another taxpayer-funded institution dry.

He should be billed for all the crap like trips to Hawaii and installation of a pool heater in his private home pool.

[hedgehog]

4. "Small spent nearly $160,000 on the redecoration of his offices "

That's almost 3 times what my entire house cost!

[MisterP]

6. can Arctic tundra pictures come out of the basement now?

[LiberalFighter]

7. Why does the Chief Justice chair the Smithsonian? Who are the Regents?

For some dumb idiotic reason Congress approved legislation having the Chief Justice and Vice President ex officio voting members. The Chief Justice usually elected chancellor. I guess they changed that to chair later on.

Other members of the Regent
3 members of the House appointed by the Speaker
3 members of the Senate appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate
9 citizen members nominated by the Board and approved by Congress


Current as of 2006
John g Roberts Jr
Richard b Cheney

Senator Thad Cochran
Bill Frist
Senator Patrick Leahy

Rep Sam Johnson
Xavier Becerra
Ralph Regula

Shirley Ann Jackson
Anne d’Harnoncourt
Phillip Frost
Walter E. Massey
Roger W. Sant
Alan G. Spoon
Patty Stonesifer
Robert P. Kogod
Eli Broad

[LiberalFighter]

8. Expenses

Smithsonian Head's Expenses 'Lavish,' Audit Says 2/25/2007 Washington Post

Over the past seven years, Small has also received $1.15 million for making his house available for official functions.

The regents also decided to rewrite several rules to authorize many of the transactions that had been deemed in violation of policy.

His original employment agreement provided him with a housing allowance so he could use his residence for "official Smithsonian hospitality." Previous secretaries had been allowed to live in a Smithsonian-owned home.

Small was allowed to claim reimbursement of up to 50 percent of his actual housing costs, up to $150,000 per year.

A few months after Small became secretary, the inspector general said, he stopped filing the required monthly documentation "for administrative ease."
Instead, Small calculated his housing expense using a mortgage interest rate that was "hypothetical," the inspector general noted, because he owned his home free and clear.

The inspector general found that Small's chartered-jet travel breached Smithsonian policy.

A list of expenses prepared by an outside auditor working for the inspector general showed that Small often purchased expensive floral arrangements, rented tables, china and flatware, and hired high-end caterers for meals for employees who reported directly to him.

[LiberalFighter]

9. The Regents are at fault too when they allowed Small to get away with violations

or change the rules so he wouldn't be in violation.

[bleedingheart]

17. in post #16 I list the regents and I did a bit of research on

the ones that aren't as well known...

some of then I couldn't find any political connections for...but a lot of them appear to be "movers and shakers" in Washington in terms of the cash they hand out.

[struggle4progress]

11. Smithsonian Chief Steps Down (AP)

By BRETT ZONGKER
Associated Press
March 26, 2007 posted 1:43 pm EDT

... An internal audit in January found that Mr. Small had made $90,000 in unauthorized expenses, including private jet travel and expensive gifts.

The audit also found that Mr. Small charged the Smithsonian more than $1.1 million for use of his home since 2000. The housing expenses included $273,000 for housekeeping, $2,535 to clean a chandelier and $12,000 for service on his backyard swimming pool.

On Thursday, the Senate approved freezing a proposed $17 million increase in funding for the Smithsonian, citing Small's excessive compensation and spending.

Mr. Small was to earn $915,698 this year in total compensation - more than double what he earned during his first year as secretary in 2000 ...

http://www.nysun.com/article/51203

[primavera]

10. Not that this is conscionable, but...

...$900K is chump change next to what the CEOs of private sector companies earn, which can be many tens of millions per year, yet no one is outraged by those astronomical salaries. How many here boycott Exxon/Mobil because of the billions its CEO took home? How many millions do popular sports celebrities make? Do fans refuse to watch their games because the players make obscene amounts of money? How much do you suppose the CEO of Verizon makes, whose cell phones we use? Dave Letterman makes a hell of a lot more than $900K/year, anyone planning on boycotting his show?

Don't get me wrong, this guy Small is obviously a sleazeball, but, c'mon, what CEO isn't? It seems faintly hypocritical to get so up in arms about this one guy and not be even more outraged by the extent to which other CEOs are amassing for themselves incomprehensibly vast personal fortunes at the expense of consumers.

[struggle4progress]

12. Smithsonian secretary resigns (The Hill)

By Jeremy Jacobs
March 26, 2007

... Recent disclosures of Small’s expense reports showed numerous questionable expenses that he billed to the Smithsonian including $3,464.50 for first-class plane tickets for himself and his wife, as well as $2,800 for a chauffeured car service for a four-day trip. Small also allegedly pressured former Smithsonian Inspector General Debra S. Ritt to avoid including his business expenditures in her recent audit ...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/smithsonian-secretary-resigns-2007-03-26.html

[struggle4progress]

13. Smithsonian's Chief Quits Amid Scrutiny of Pay ... (Chronicle of Higher Education)

March 26, 2007
Smithsonian's Chief Quits Amid Scrutiny of Pay
Policies Drew Fire From Scholars

... Since he took the job, in January 2000, Mr. Small has attracted controversy. Last year he signed a semi-exclusive deal with the Showtime cable channel, angering researchers who feared it would limit their use of Smithsonian collections. In 2004 he was sentenced to two years’ probation and 100 hours of community service after he purchased Amazonian tribal objects made with feathers from protected species for his personal collection. He drew criticism earlier for policies that cut back publishing at the Smithsonian Institution Press, that commercialized programming at the museums, and that sought to close a research center on museum conservation ...

http://chronicle.com/news/article/1871/smithsonians-chief-quits-amid-scrutiny-of-pay-policies-drew-fire-from-scholars

[bleedingheart]

18. I think that the magazine has suffered under his management

it may be me ...but I think the quality of the publication has been diminished....don't know if he influenced it at all but it just doesn't seem to be as good as it was 10 years ago...

[Neshanic]

14. Wow, nice work if you can get it. 900 grand and 2 million in housing? Republican?

[LiberalFighter]

15. He was paid housing expenses based on mortgage costs on a house...

that was already paid. And using an interest rate that was higher then the one in effect at the time.

Smithsonian has or had their own house that previous Secretaries used as their residence. Not this guy. He had to have his own place.

[bleedingheart]

16. Small is a Republican and an example of GOP Excess BUT

Look at the board of Regents....there are some key Republicans but there are some big Democratic contributors and a lot of them are very wealthy people who think nothing of what Mr. Small spent. Mr. Sant below...has been his number one apologist...

In my opinion...these folks are just too detached and didn't realize that putting a guy like Small in this position was probably a bad idea. Granted he raised a fair amount of money...but he should have been rather wealthy in his own right (I base this off his previous jobs)...why did he need so much money from the government to live.

Congress vests responsibility for administering the Institution in the Board of Regents.


- John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States and Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution (REPUBLICAN)
- Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, ex officio (REPUBLICAN)
- Thad Cochran, Senator from Mississippi (REPUBLICAN)
- Christopher Dodd, Senator from Connecticut (DEMOCRAT)
- Patrick J. Leahy, Senator from Vermont (DEMOCRAT)
- Xavier Becerra, Representative from California (DEMOCRAT)
- Sam Johnson, Representative from Texas (REPUBLICAN)
- Doris Matsui, Representative from California (DEMOCRAT)
- Eli Broad, Founder of The Broad Foundation, Chairman of AIG Retirement Services, Inc., Founder-Chairman of KB Home; resident of California (BIG DEMOCRATIC CONTRIBUTOR)
- Anne d’Harnoncourt, The George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art; resident of Pennsylvania
- Phillip Frost, former Chairman and CEO of IVAX Corporation; resident of Florida (BIG DEMOCRATIC CONTRIBUTOR)
- Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; resident of New York
- Robert P. Kogod, Former Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Charles E. Smith Companies; resident of Washington, D.C. (BIG DEMOCRATIC CONTRIBUTOR)
- Walter E. Massey, President of Morehouse College; resident of Georgia
- Roger W. Sant, Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder of The AES Corporation, Chairman of the Board of The Summit Foundation; resident of Washington, D.C. (BIG DEMOCRATIC CONTRIBUTOR, gives money to both Dodd and Matsui above)
- Alan G. Spoon, Managing General Partner of Polaris Venture Partners; resident of Massachusetts (BIG DEMOCRATIC CONTRIBUTOR)
- Patricia Q. Stonesifer, Co-Chair and President of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; resident of Washington state (BIG DEMOCRATIC CONTRIBUTOR)

[Serial Mom]

19. Saw this and wondered, where is the OUTRAGE!

:wtf:

The raping of American continues...

[SayWhatYo]

20. I want to hear this jackass justify that sort of salary.

[LisaM]

21. Do you recall when the photographic exhibit of ANWR was stuck in the basement

of the Smithsonian when they were holding hearings on drilling there?

Nothing much was said at the time, but perhaps people need their memories stirred.

[Tatiana]

22. He made more than twice the salary of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES????

And the Republicans simply turned a blind eye.

Again, folks... we can berate Dems for many things, but they are taking their oversight responsibilities seriously and forcing the Republics to move in their direction.

If anyone should be overly compensated, it should be Waxman and the staffers of the oversight committee.

[MagickMuffin]

24. Like any other Terrorist group: FREEZE HIS ASSETS

America is under attack by a new group of terrorist who work within our government.

They have been identified as Al Takeitallformeself.