WHYY Should We Tolerate The Marrazzo Salary Mess?

(Stepping back from politics a bit here…)

To its credit, the Philadelphia Inquirer revisited the whole issue of the salary of public radio and TV station WHYY CEO Bill Marrazzo in this story yesterday (a prior post appears here based on a fine column by Karen Heller – it feels strange to give the Inky all of these compliments, but they’re deserved for a change).

The main difference between the prior Marrazzo post and this one is that, last year, I noted that he was awarded $430,786 in salary and an additional $56,250 in benefits during fiscal year 2006 (borne out here, along with lots of other financials).

However, as staff writer Carolyn Davis NOW tells us…

President and CEO William J. Marrazzo's potential pay, benefits and expenses totaled $740,090 in the year ending June 30, 2007, according to its most recent tax filing. The package consists of $415,993 in salary, $317,240 in benefits and $6,857 in expenses.

Those benefits include $280,000 in deferred compensation reported to the IRS that Marrazzo will receive next July if he meets performance goals, as he has in the past (all told, Davis tells us that this is a 14 percent increase in Marrazzo’s compensation over the prior year).

At this rate, Marrazzo will be pulling down a mil by the end of the decade; actually, he’s just about there now when you consider the fact that, as Davis tells us, “(Marrazzo) has maintained professional ties with utility companies. As a director for American Water Works Inc. and for Amerigas Partners (where he sits on both firms' compensation committees), he earned a combined $153,500 last year, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.”

I must tell you that I know of no one whatsoever who has achieved a 14 percent increase in compensation over the prior year as Marrazzo has (hell, we’re all still lucky to even have our jobs).

And who are the geniuses responsible for this farce? Why, that would be WHYY’s Board of Directors, including one Gerald H. Sweeney cited in Davis’ story, who has no problem with this debacle (a list of the culprits is here).

Also, as I read the list, I happened to notice something strange, and that is the appearance of Marrazzo’s name on the board of directors; I’m not an expert in corporate governance, but I think it sends a pretty rank message that the CEO of a company can sit on that company’s board and potentially have a say in his own compensation.

I would ask that you remember this the next time another public television station offers a new broadcast of “Nova,” “The American Experience” or other new, original programming on a Saturday evening in prime time and WHYY offers a Shirley Temple retrospective instead.