• Audubon Institute redefines the term "not-for-profit"...
• BZA Appeal scheduled for September 9, 2002...
• Final week of a functioning Hyams Fountain...
• Hurst St. parking lot regression...

PUTTING THE "PROFIT" IN "NOT-FOR-PROFIT"...

Those who considered LSU Chancellor Mark Emmert's 72% salary increase "eye-popping" (T-P, 8/26/02, p. A-1) should probably stop reading immediately for fear of even greater physical effect, because it pales in comparison to the 86% increase given Audubon Nature Institute CEO Ron Forman in 2000. Unbeknownst to most residents of our cash-starved metropolis (except perhaps the ANI and AC insiders who presumably approved it) Ron Forman's salary increased from $360,962 in 1999 to a staggering $672,157 in 2000. Institute VP Dale Stastny also received a 73% salary increase, from $214,877 in 1999 to $371,083 in 2000.

$672,157 makes Ron Forman one of the highest paid non-profit CEO's in the country, running an institution whose income is around $21 million. While we are fully aware that there are many people in our community who consider Ron Forman worth every penny that he is being paid, we thought a comparison of executive salaries in the non-profit sector was in order. ..

Out of the "Top 20 Compensation Packages" for non-profit CEO's cited on the American Institute of Philanthropy website (http://www.charitywatch.org), fifteen out of the twenty CEO's made under $650,000 in salary, benefits and expense accounts COMBINED.

The median salary of a male CEO of a non-profit institution with a budget between $10 million and $25 million was $135,937. The median salary for a male CEO of a non-profit institution with a budget over $50 million was still only $271,032.

Locally, for example, Tulane University President Scott Cowen is paid $373,587 to run one of the largest institutions in the region.

The salary of the CEO of the San Diego Zoo, with income of $133.5 million, was $231,633.

The salary of the CEO of the Philadelphia Zoo, with income of almost $29 million, was $199,867.

For the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York, which runs not only the Bronx Zoo, but also three other zoos and an aquarium, and has income in the $125 million range, 1998 is the only year we have a comparable figure. The CEO salary was $270,400 that year, compared to Ron Forman's 1998 salary of $359,899. The following year, CEO salaries became rather a controversial issue for the WCS, which ultimately paid $1,265,497 to a succession of three CEO's in one year! Ooops.

Largely due to the Forman and Stastny pay raises alone, the "Compensation of Officers" category on the ANI's IRS Form 990 went up 34% in 2000. Conversely, the category within which most Institute employees are found, "Other salaries and wages", saw a decline of 3.5%, proving that the ANI, like its contemporary counterparts in the for-profit corporate world, know precisely where best to apply their belt-tightening sacrifices.

But then, we already knew that, from a memo dated 3/16/2001, from Dale Stastny to Ron Forman, Re New Audubon Golf Club Operations, which explained:

"Its [new golf course] operational expenses will be approximately $1m, leaving net cash flow of $350,000. Therefore expenses need to be very closely controlled since this is not a large operation.... Of particular concern in developing an operational structure is minimizing the number of highly paid employees."

During the boycott of the Zoo-To-Do a few months ago by restauranteurs protesting the ANI policy of forbidding outside caterers, spokesperson Sarah Burnette defended the ANI with the inimitable "As a non-profit, it's important for us to generate a lot of revenue."  Well, we already knew "how", now we know "why".

See also Putting the 'profit' in 'non=profit' for updated information (Sept. 2004)

You can see the ANI IRS Form 990's for yourself at http://www.guidestar.org

BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENTS APPEAL OF CLUBHOUSE PERMIT IS SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 9, 2002...

Save Audubon Park has filed a legal challenge to the proposed new Audubon Park golf clubhouse, claiming that the large commercial kitchen and dining areas included in the plans are a restaurant and in violation of zoning regulations. In an appeal to the Board of Zoning Adjustments, Save Audubon Park quoted a zoning ordinance stating that, in park districts, restaurants are allowed "within boundaries of a zoo only." The proposed 8000 square foot clubhouse and its accessory 4000 square foot cart storage building are scheduled to be built off Magazine Street near the bandstand.

Save Audubon Park cited as precedent a 1975 holding of the Department of Safety and Permits which stated that a restaurant was not permitted in the park, a finding that resulted from a previous attempt by the Audubon Commission to build a restaurant on the park batture. Save Audubon Park, which has criticized increased commercial development in the park, objects to the delivery trucks, garbage dumpsters and increased traffic the restaurant would bring to a previously quiet and passive area of the park.

The docket number of the appeal is #142-02.

AUDUBON SHARK PANEL TO MEET AND CONCLUDE THAT THE ANI IS BLAMELESS...

No matter what the actual findings turn out to be of an investigation into what caused the catwalk to fail and drop 10 visitors into the shark tank at the Aquarium on August 7, we have no doubt that the hand-picked group of Audubon Commission and Audubon Institute Board members will find that absolutely no fault can be attributed to anything the ANI has done or not done. 

New Orleans has seen enough of studies and committees set up to rubber-stamp a foregone conclusion. For the investigation of this accident to have any legitimacy within the community, the review panel cannot be made up of individuals that have such close ties to the Audubon Commission and Institute. While the failure of the catwalk may involve complicated structural science, the need for an independent review of the experts' analysis is a very simple concept to grasp.

More: Panel to review Shark Tank findings

ONLY ONE MORE WEEK FOR THE HYAMS FOUNTAIN...

The beginning of September marks the date when the AC/ANI plans to let the Hymans Fountain revert back to its regular state of nonfunctioning neglect, so be sure to check it out this week while you still have the chance.

NEW BUILDING UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT THE HURST ST SITE...

If our email is any indication, it has obviously come as something of a surprise to park visitors and residents along Walnut Street, that when the ANI said it was going to convert the old Hurst Street parking lot back to open park green space, what they really meant was that they were going to build a huge new maintenance building where the old golf cart storage shed used to be. However, since most of the golf course redesign plans included a view of a "maintenance" building almost twice the size of the original 8580 sf clubhouse, it should have been clear to all concerned that the new 4000 sf golf cart storage building would simply not be sufficient for Institute needs.