The salary cap was proposed after news that Chelsea’s former housing authority director was being paid $360,000 a year.
Springfield Housing Authority Executive Director William H. Abrashkin, appointed four years ago, has no objection to a proposal by Gov. Deval Patrick to place a salary cap on housing authority executive directors in Massachusetts.A proposal by Gov. Deval L. Patrick to impose a $160,000 cap on salaries for housing authority executive directors triggered barely a peep in the region this week as local directors are well below the limit.
Unlike some of their counterparts in Eastern Massachusetts, no director in the western part of the state makes more than $130,000, and the salary is less than $50,000 in a number of communities.
Patrick proposed the cap and other housing authority reforms after the revelation that former Chelsea Housing Director Michael McLaughlin was being paid $360,000 a year. McLaughlin, who is under investigation by state and federal agencies including the FBI, resigned in November as sought by Patrick.
Salaries in eastern Massachusetts include $166,529 paid in Brockton and $164,800 in Somerville, according to submitted budgets on file with the state. The salary in Boston is listed at $135,906.
The governor’s recent proposal would not affect already negotiated contracts, a state spokeswoman with the Department of Housing and Community Development said.
Springfield Housing Authority Executive Director William H. Abrashkin, appointed four years ago, had no objection to the salary cap this week.
“No issue at all,” Abrashkin said. “I find my salary of $129,000 for this responsibility entirely satisfactory and am privileged to be in a position to do the best possible for our residents and to partner with the city and support its many exciting initiatives.”
“I do think it’s reasonable,” Chicopee Housing Director Monica Pacello Blazic said regarding the $160,000 cap. The Chicopee authority oversees approximately 1,200 public housing units.
She called the Chelsea director “an embarrassment to housing directors.”
The Springfield authority is the third largest authority in the state, overseeing approximately 5,000 units and a $40 million annual budget. Springfield and other public authorities receive state and federal funds and serve poor, elderly and disabled people.
Abrashkin’s salary was negotiated with the Housing Authority’s board of commissioners and submitted to the state for approval, said Abrashkin, who is a retired Hampden Housing Court judge.
Raymond B. Asselin, who was executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority for 33 years, resigned in 2003 at a salary of $120,000 after a corruption scandal. In 2007, Asselin began serving a 10-year prison sentence after he and 10 others pleaded guilty to swindling about $6.4 million from the taxpayer-funded authority.
Abrashkin did raise a concern about the governor’s proposal to eliminate compensation for Housing Authority commissioners. The commissioners “are hard working and dedicated, giving countless hours to oversight and policy-setting,” he said.
Their stipend – $6,285 for board members and $7,856 for the chairman – “is entirely fair and appropriate in my view” and is based exclusively on a formula for the number of state units owned and managed by the authority, Abrashkin said.
Holyoke Housing Authority Executive Director Rosalie M. Dean said Patrick’s plan to cap executive pay at $160,000 a year was unsurprising, given that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued similar rules.
“HUD has recently implemented this same cap for authority directors as part of the 2012 federal budget submission requirements,” Dean said.
She has been director for nearly four years, and said the authority is audited annually by an independent accountant as well as sporadic audits by the state auditor’s office.
“Any other requirements for additional oversight, audits or training will be adhered to,” Dean said.
The Holyoke board members are paid $2,800 a year each based on a state formula. The Holyoke Housing Authority manages about 1,100 units.
Agawam Housing Authority Executive Director Maureen. M. Cayer, who has been on the job for two years, said she considers her salary fair.
“I would like to make more money, but at this stage in my career I am all right with it (her salary),” Cayer said.
Pay for housing authority executive directors is tied to the number of units they supervise, which in Agawam comes to 242, according to Cayer. She said she has no problem with the state setting a salary cap.
In West Springfield, Housing Authority Executive Director Willie J. Thomas said he does not have a problem with a cap being set, as salaries of government officials like presidents, governors and mayors are also set. He has been in the post one year after 11 years running the housing authority in South Hadley, and now oversees about 400 housing units.
Westfield Housing Authority Executive Director Daniel J. Kelly, who has served in the post for 12 years, oversees 815 housing units.
“What happened in Chelsea should not affect other housing authorities in the state,” Kelly said. “I can understand the governor’s call but every authority is different.”
In Amherst, Executive Director Denise LeDuc, who began duties in January, said her salary was “heavily scrutinized,” with her contract settled at approximately the same time as the Chelsea controversy. The authority oversees 204 units.
Palmer Housing Authority Executive Director Jean A. Leonard said she does not have an opinion on the proposal yet because it is so new, and she’s not sure who exactly it will involve. She is part-time, earning about $24,000, overseeing 48 units. Easthampton’s director, Deborah Barthelette, also offered no opinion on the governor’s proposal.
Staff writers Mike Plaisance, Jeanette Deforge, Ted LaBorde, Sandy Constantine, Diane Lederman, and Lori Stabile contributed to this report.