TO CARS, $200G+ SALARIES
Massport
ees who are allowed to take them home. MassHousing pays $101,830 a year to lease the Toyotas, a MassHousing spokesman confirmed.
MassHousing’s executive director, Chrystal Kornegay, who was hired earlier this year, earns $270,000 annually, making her one of the highest-paid non-law enforcement or non-higher education officials in the state.
Former Deputy Director Karen Kelleher made $248,709 a year; Director of Rental Operations Sergio Ferreira is paid $220,965, while Vice President of External Affairs Thomas Lyons takes in $214,000 a year, according to payroll records. Chief of Staff Monte Stanford makes $213,634, while Chief Financial Officer Charles Karimbakas is paid $209,475 annually.
MassHousing’s total annual spending on salaries tops $17 million, making it the third-highest quasi agency payroll in the state, behind only Massport and the MBTA, according to state payroll records.
The agency’s communications director, Paul McMorrow, takes in $149,599 annually. The former communications director, Eric Gedstad, was bumped up to a newly-created position of director of marketing at $150,465 a year.
By contrast, Tim Buckley, in charge of communications for the entire Baker administration, is paid $131,000 annually.
MassHousing refused to make Kornegay available for a Herald interview, referring questions to McMorrow, the communications director.
MassHousing was created in 1966 to provide financing for low- and moderate-income housing. The agency makes a point of saying it does not use taxpayer money, but its funds and expenditures, including the payroll, are subject to public records laws. The agency sells bonds to fund its expenditures, including loans to home buyers and developers of affordable housing. Its website acknowledges it “administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth.”
“Last year, MassHousing provided $1.25 billion in affordable housing financing, and the agency’s affordable rental and homeownership programs touched more than 6,700 households,” McMorrow said in a statement. “The agency’s payroll is commensurate with its $5.5 billion asset base.”
MassHousing in the past has been reluctant to release some of its records. In 2016, the agency terminated three workers and paid out settlements but initially redacted the names. The agency was eventually forced to release the names by Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s office, which is in charge of public records.
The use of take-home cars has become a controversial topic in recent years. The Baker administration and cities like Boston have recently cracked down on the use of personally assigned vehicles and auto leases for nonemergency personnel.
McMorrow said none of MassHousing’s executive staff get cars.
“Take-home cars,” he said,
“are assigned to employees whose job descriptions require them to spend the majority of their working time out of the office.”