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timesunion.com
Section: Capital Region
Page: B6
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Chartock defends $48,000 raise
WAMC's president and CEO says his new pay and benefits are in line for the work he does
By MARK McGUIRE
Staff Writer

     WAMC Northeast Public Radio President and CEO Alan Chartock received a $48,000 raise in 2004 from the public radio station, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service filing, prompting criticism from two of his most vocal detractors.

     The raise - which totaled $51,657 when benefits are factored in - increased Chartock's salary to $154,119 (and $166,101 in total salary and benefits), according to the network's 2005 990 form, the IRS filing for tax-exempt organizations.

     The raise was first reported on the Web site WAMC Northeast Pirate Radio (http://www.wamc.net), a blog run by Glenn Heller. (The station's official Web site is http://www.wamc.org.) The raise also was discussed Monday on "Live from the State Capitol" (WROW 590 AM), hosted by another frequent critic of Chartock, New York Post state editor and WRGB Ch. 6 analyst Fred Dicker. Chartock has in the past been critical of both Dicker and Heller.

    "When was the last time you heard of a CEO at a public charity getting a sudden 45 percent salary increase?" Heller said in an e-mail interview, adding, "This thing stinks."

Chartock said the raise has "not been a secret," stating he received the salary hike after retiring as a professor from the State University of New York. Chartock said that despite the raise, the move to working solely for WAMC cost him, since he gave up his roughly $100,000 SUNY job.

    "I took an actual cut of $50,000 to do that," Chartock said.

    "I'm on air, I'm off air, I do a lot of the fundraising," the executive said, adding "$150,000 is not out of line with what people make for this job."

    At WNYC, New York City's public radio outlet, at least six employees made more in 2004 than Chartock did last year, according to IRS filings; its executive director and CEO, Laura Walker, made more than $313,000 in salary and benefits that year.

All Times Union materials copyright 1996-2006, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y.

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