Senate Finance Committee member calls Carl R. Greene's salary at PHA 'disturbing'

Lashing out at what he called an "abysmal situation" at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, a top U.S. Senate Republican said it was "disturbing" that ousted Executive Director Carl R. Greene was one of the highest-paid public-housing officials in the nation.

Greene earned a base salary of $306,376, and was given a $44,188 bonus last year. He was fired over sexual-harassment allegations this summer.

That salary was over $150,000 more than his counterparts in New York City and Chicago, and was higher than 20 other major housing agencies across the country, according to a survey by U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

Grassley's compensation comparison was contained in a toughly worded letter to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun L.S. Donovan complaining that Senate staff had to do the salary research because HUD did not have the data.

Grassley expressed "shock" that HUD "did not know" executive salaries at the nation's 3,100 housing authorities.

"My concerns are compounded by the abysmal situation at the Philadelphia PHA that appears to have gone on for years without HUD correcting many of the problems plaguing that organization," Grassley wrote.

A spokeswoman for HUD said Donovan's office was "reviewing" Grassley's letter.

Grassley's staffers on the Finance Committee began examining PHA spending as part of a larger national review of economic stimulus spending. Grassley intensified his focus on Philadelphia after learning that multiple sexual-harassment complaints had been brought against Greene by PHA employees, and that questions had been raised about the finances of two affiliated nonprofit agencies.

The PHA board, chaired by former Mayor John F. Street, fired Greene in September for settling three of those sexual-harassment complaints without informing the board. Three other complaints are pending, two of which were filed after Greene's discharge.

Greene, who had been in seclusion at an out-of-state medical facility receiving treatment for stress, has not been seen publicly for weeks. He has denied any improper conduct and said that he had never sexually harassed female employees at PHA.

An investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office is in progress, and since September a team of HUD auditors has been sifting through PHA records.

The PHA board is searching for a new executive director. Whoever takes over will come in at a lower salary, Street said via e-mail Wednesday.

"It is unlikely that any new person will warrant a salary competitive with Mr. Greene's salary," Street said, noting that Greene's pay had increased during his 12-year tenure.

The new director's compensation "will be negotiated on the strength of qualifications," Street wrote.

Greene was hired in 1998 at a salary of $160,000, which had risen to $250,000 in 2005, and most recently was set at $306,000, not including the bonus.

Under HUD rules, local salaries are set by individual boards of directors, even though virtually all funding for public housing comes from the federal government.

But that is now under review. HUD said recently in a letter to Grassley: "In light of what has taken place with PHA, HUD is working . . . to assess this policy."

PHA is the fourth-largest federal housing authority in the nation, with 29,348 units it owns, operates, or subsidizes.

The largest authority, with 178,400 units, is in New York City, where Executive Director John Rhea's 2010 salary is $197,364.

In Chicago, the director, Lewis Jordan, earns about $185,000 a year and oversees roughly 54,700 units.

At the Philadelphia authority, Greene's salary and bonus amounted to more than the combined pay of Gov. Rendell and Mayor Nutter.

Greene has sued PHA seeking damages for his discharge, alleging that the board libeled and slandered him.

Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed documents connected to the harassment complaints, and are investigating two nonprofits affiliated with PHA: Tenant Support Services Inc., which receives about $500,000 a year from PHA, and the Pennsylvania Institute for Affordable Housing Professionals.

TSSI is run by Asia Coney, a PHA tenant and ally of Greene's, who is paid $102,000 a year.

The Pennsylvania Institute for Affordable Housing Professionals was created under Greene, and ran a one-day seminar for landlords with government subsidized tenants. Coney is vice president of that group.

Since 2007, some 1,500 landlords have paid $200 each for the mandatory course, for a total of $300,000. But none of the money appears to have been spent on instruction. Instead, the institute deposited half the money in a lobbying fund and put the rest in a "general account," which was drawn on to pay for PHA employee outings and a variety of other activities.