Inquirer Editorial: Former parking boss scores big groping for money

What a carefree and lucrative career Vincent J. Fenerty Jr. has had.

He blithely pocketed his $223,000 annual salary as the Parking Authority's executive director until the Inquirer reported his sexual harassment of female employees. That forced the authority board to finally acknowledge it had a scandal on its hands and Fenerty resigned to collect his annual $158,628 pension.

But right before the New Year's break, when the gutless authority apparently thought nobody was paying attention, it also gave Fenerty $227,238 in unused vacation, comp time, administrative leave, and sick leave. That should sicken anyone who has ever gotten a parking ticket or had a car towed or booted.

An authority spokesperson said the board didn't have to formally vote on the reward because its rules say Fenerty's tenure had earned him the payout. Obviously, those rules need to be changed, but that's unlikely to happen under the current system.

Fenerty was richly rewarded because he was a Republican head of an agency reserved for Republican patronage. Sometimes the authority also doles out jobs to Democrats to keep the scam intact.

Pathetically, the board chose to lighten Fenerty's responsibilities, instead of his paycheck, until the Inquirer's Mike Newall found an earlier harassment victim.

Apparently, the agency had forgotten it offered to pay off a victim of Fenerty's unwanted advances in 2007. Public outcry following Newall's revelation left the board no choice but to somehow dump the groper.

Fenerty and the Parking Authority are exhibit A of government run for the benefit of politicians. The public, which should benefit from honest service, would be better served by an entirely new board.