Reforms to executive pay, benefits, travel and entertainment expenses instituted by the Smithsonian Institution in the wake of its former chief’s resignation will require time and constant vigilance to prove successful, a new report concludes.
A year afterthe exit of embattled Secretary Lawrence Small amid outrage into his luxurious tenure, the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents has in place revised policies for setting executive pay, leave and benefits, the Government Accountability Office found. But systemwide reviews continue into travel procedures, entertainment expenses, contracting and internal controls, the GAO reported, and implementing those reforms throughout the massive organization will be challenging and take years.
“Given the extensiveness of actions taken and still under way, it is likely that the effectiveness of some changes will only be evident over a longer time,” the GAO wrote.
Small resigned in March 2007 in the wake of multiple internal audits into his salary and spending. His $915,698 2007 pay included $193,000 masquerading as a housing allowance. His travel expenses — chartering a jet for $14,000 to travel to San Antonio, for example — were not reviewed for reasonableness. He was serving on several for-profit boards, one of which had a Smithsonian contract. And he was out of the office for about 550 workdays between 2000 and 2006.
The Smithsonian has a $1 billion annual budget, 70 percent of which is taxpayer funded.
Roger Sant, a member of the Smithsonian board, wrote in response to the GAO review that the “foundation for long-term governance is not complete,” that “good governance evolves and that complacency is a symptom of a disengaged board.” The regents voted May 5 to review their practices and policies every three years.
Under new reforms, Smithsonian Secretary-elect G. Wayne Clough will be paid a base salary of $490,000 and will not receive a housing allowance. Travel spending is now reviewed by the institution’s chief financial officer and all Smithsonian senior executives are barred from serving on for-profit boards.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chair of the committee with oversight of the Smithsonian, said in a statement that the organization has “taken great strides in restoring the public’s faith in this great institution.”
