Bill Bramhall/New York Daily News
Bill Bramhall cartooon for 2/20/2014
The Queens Library’s board of trustees decided Thursday to remove the secret $ 2 million golden parachute of CEO Thomas Galante’s perk-filled $ 392,000-a-year contract.
The board voted to pay consultant The Hay Group $ 28,000 to review Galante’s contract and come back with recommendations on a new compensation package. His current contract contains a provision guaranteeing Galante’s eye-popping $ 2 million walk-away fee.
The payout is based on an “evergreen clause” added to Galante’s package that automatically renews and guarantees all five years of his contract every year.
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The board voted to negotiate a new contract without the evergreen clause.
Galante’s lavish contract, first revealed by the Daily News, includes perks such as the use of a sports car supplied by the city. He has also spent $ 140,000 in taxpayer money on renovations to his office, including a private smoking deck, The News has reported.
Galante’s cushy contract contrasts with his rank-and-file workers, all city employees, who haven’t seen a raise in four years. His clerks and custodians get top pay of $ 39,000; his senior librarians, $ 55,000.
RELATED: QUEENS PRESIDENT: TRUSTEES SHOULD NIX MONEY-FLUSH LIBRARY HEAD’S $ 2M EXIT DEAL
Christie M. Farriella/for New York Daily News
News exposed how Queens Library boss Thomas Galante gets lavish pay despite huge budget cut.
But Galante’s plush pay and digs apparently weren’t enough to keep him from seeking out a side job to further feather his nest.
The News reported that Galante has been paid more than $ 850,000 over the last five years by the Elmont Union Free School District on Long Island for his work as a business consultant.
While working full-time as head of one of the world’s busiest library systems — which has more than 70 branches and centers in the borough — Galante has billed the school district for 22 to 25 hours a week — at $ 150 per hour — since 2008.
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He was never required to tell his bosses on the library board about his moonlighting moolah. But the board voted Thursday night to change that, instructing a committee to draft rules requiring that senior level executives disclose all outside income and potential conflicts of interest.
At a City Council hearing earlier this month, Galante refused to say whether he had any income besides his library bonanza.
He has been unapologetic about his salary and raises, calling his compensation “fair” and “competitive” with similar size nonprofits.
“You get what you pay for,” he told the City Council.
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