Rick Karlin at Capitol Confidential reports that the Authorities Budget Office released its Compensation Report, a letter from Director David Kidera, about the payment situation at the Greene County Industrial Development Authority. The letter focuses on Executive Director Alexander ["Sandy"] Mathes, and a series of raises and bonuses that critics around the county have condemned. The report reaches four conclusions:
1) $130,000 of $282,500 in bonus payments to Mathes "cannot be justified" and "While the Authorities Budget Office implies no wrongdoing on the part of the Executive Director, we believe the GCIDA board has a fiduciary duty to recover this $130,000."
2) Salary increases to Mathes in 2009 and 2010 were awarded without new employment agreements authorizing these salary levels, and the, "increases should not have occurred."
3) "The board's decision was arbitrary and inconsistent with the intent of the State Comptroller's opinion" with regard to how bonuses were awarded.
4) "A neutral, objective observer may well conclude that the work performed by the Executive Director that earned him a bonus just as easily falls with the range of his normal activities."s