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Nonprofit group cuts Pa. candidate’s salary in midst of scrutiny |
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By Aaron Blake
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Posted: 07/13/07 07:28 PM [ET] |
A congressional candidate running against Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) yesterday said she has requested and received a sharp pay reduction after her compensation at a nonprofit was put under the microscope by a local newspaper.
Properties of Merit chief executive Siobhan “Sam” Bennett’s (D) six-figure salary drew scrutiny when The Allentown Morning Call reported that the nonprofit’s board defied IRS rules in determining her salary.
Bennett was one of three people on the compensation committee, and the organization did not properly evaluate what comparable executives make, the newspaper reported. It also put itself in a group for nonprofits with more than 100 employees, though it has only two, the paper reported.
Bennett said in a statement that the organization followed IRS guidelines.
“That said, I am very concerned that this situation might put a cloud over Properties of Merit at this important time when POM is expanding statewide,” she said. “I hope that these decisions will remove POM and its mission from the political arena, where they do not belong. It is my hope that these decisions, which are mine alone, will merit that confidence.”
Bennett’s salary was reduced to $55,000 from $110,000 yesterday, and she said Properties of Merit will hire an independent consultant to review its compensation process.
The nonprofit seeks to “assist in reviving and improving communities, property by property, by rewarding those owners that maintain their properties in an outstanding fashion.”
It recently received a state grant, and a state legislator responded to the articles by requesting that state funding be rescinded.
A spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Julie Shutley, said, “Bennett is raising further questions on her ethical motivations and her ability to manage finances — a quality essential to any elected official in charge of American tax dollars.”
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