tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8565163061165974643.post7846123971571762346..comments2023-07-27T04:33:11.719-05:00Comments on UJ Thee and Me: WHAT'S WITH THE ZOA -- A CAUTIONARY TALEGracklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14315763008609379449noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8565163061165974643.post-20213411469018433022015-12-03T07:57:28.335-06:002015-12-03T07:57:28.335-06:00Dear David,
Thank you for your comprehensive rebu...Dear David,<br /><br />Thank you for your comprehensive rebuttal to the portions of the Post which referenced the excessive compensation paid to Mort Klein by the ZOA. Unless you have documentation from the IRS exempting Mr. Klein's 2013 compensation from scrutiny, we will have to wait and see what it might later determine on this issue. <br /><br />Perhaps I have misinterpreted what you have written -- ZOA apparently created a deferred compensation scheme -- the Rabbi Trust -- when its Board decided to convert Mr. Klein's role from unpaid lay leader to paid President; immediately vested that deferred compensation; and then paid it out in 2013, "maturity" reached just a few years after the Trust was established. I leave it to the IRS to ultimately determine whether the structure and payout pass legal muster; I can't get beyond the smell test.<br /><br />If you would page back in this Blog you will find other Posts dealing with the "value" of compensation consultants.<br /><br />Thanks for your interest.RWEXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01583858140298821830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8565163061165974643.post-11113180606431485052015-12-02T20:01:15.026-06:002015-12-02T20:01:15.026-06:00Dear Mr. Wexler:
Your post regarding Mort Klein...Dear Mr. Wexler:<br /><br /><br /> Your post regarding Mort Klein’s earnings from the ZOA is replete with misinformation and demands a rebuttal.<br /> Note there never has been a true controversy over Mr. Klein’s salary or pension. This “issue” was nothing but a campaign ploy by a former ZOA Board member seeking to oust Mr. Klein in the election for president at the last ZOA Convention. It was and remains a “straw man” argument. Despite the allegation, the delegates well understood this phony issue and afforded Mr. Klein a landslide victory. <br /><br /><br /> It is a verifiable fact Mr. Klein worked for over 5 years as president of the ZOA without being on the organization’s payroll, as he has asserted in the media many times over the years. In fact, Mr. Klein prepared to leave the organization because he had exhausted the savings he was living off of during that period. On learning this, a major ZOA donor significantly increased his gift for the express purpose of providing Mr. Klein with a salary. The ZOA Constitution had to be amended to allow for the president to be paid. Over the years, this same donor has increased his annual gifts to the organization. In a very real sense, one generous donor has in large part underwritten Mr. Klein’s total earnings from ZOA.<br /><br /><br /> Mr. Klein did receive the payout at maturity of a Rabbi Trust; it is a common method of providing a deferred earnings pension plan for a key employee in a not-for-profit organization. It is clearly labeled in the IRS form 990. The set-up of the plan was recommended by a prominent third-party compensation consultant and approved by the ZOA Board of Directors, which was appropriately recorded. Yet another qualified third-party compensation consultant reviewed and reaffirmed the reasonableness of Mr. Klein’s current compensation for 2014/2015 (also easily substantiated in ZOA’s most recent 990 filing). Under this legal schema, the establishment of Mr. Klein’s compensation enjoys a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness under IRS guidelines and is immune from intermediate sanctions. Pointedly, there is no reason for the fine Jewish activists you call out by name to “run, run, run.” There is literally no liability for them, the ZOA, its members, directors and officers or Mort Klein. In your article, you explicitly and falsely claim there is.<br /><br /><br />In short, the answer to your rhetorical question regarding what the IRS might think of Mr. Klein’s earnings is simple: They think nothing of it, other than assuming it is perfectly reasonable (and rightly so). Why? Because it passes every standardized test of reasonableness required by law and was evaluated by qualified professionals (in this case, a prominent ERISA law firm, experts on not-for-profit compensation using up-to-the-minute comparable compensation data provided by a specialized vendor). Ask an appropriate lawyer or accountant about the process; you will find it enlightening, I am sure.<br /><br /><br />Bear in mind that in 2013, the year you specifically complained about, Mr. Klein’s pension equaled roughly 75% of his total earnings that year. Even the Forward, the most prominent of Jewish publications – with an editorial slant diametrically opposed to the ZOA’s policies – excluded the Rabbi Trust earnings from their annual Jewish organizational salary survey. Consequently, the characterization of the one-time payout of Mr. Klein’s pension plan or his annual salary as inappropriate is totally lacking in foundation. You chose to proceed with incomplete and unsubstantiated facts because it made for a more salacious story; I assert you were wrong to do so.<br /><br /><br />May I take the liberty of suggesting you promptly print a retraction? It would be the moral and just thing to do.<br /><br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br /><br />David P. Drimer<br />National Executive Director, ZOA<br />Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13727736125176735279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8565163061165974643.post-31352712422329746352015-12-02T06:32:02.260-06:002015-12-02T06:32:02.260-06:00Anon 1:43, you missed the whole point of what Pall...Anon 1:43, you missed the whole point of what Pallotta was saying. It's not a call for "vastly increased overhead." It's the recognition that overhead is nothing more than the tools to get a good job done. Why shouldn't nonprofits have the best people and the best mechanisms, when they are doing the best work? Sure, some may be excesses; but the majority don't have what they need to succeed because of antiquated views that "overhead" is somehow a dirty word. Why is service to people in need any less worthy than service to personal greed?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8565163061165974643.post-66308453121902577202015-11-30T18:10:45.659-06:002015-11-30T18:10:45.659-06:00The less said about the ZOA the better. Why they ...The less said about the ZOA the better. Why they are even in the President's Conference befuddles the mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8565163061165974643.post-69115012149851093612015-11-30T13:43:32.205-06:002015-11-30T13:43:32.205-06:00Remember the days when Jewish communal service was...Remember the days when Jewish communal service was a calling for all as opposed to a means to unearned riches, and perks befitting a successful commercial enterprise? That's what we have come to. Today we present (and thereby vouch for) at a GA the "guru" of vastly increased overhead to "tumultuous applause" because that's what we have allowed JFNA to become. Sure, Klein and Joel are outrageous examples but what about Silverman and his ilk? They are only better by degrees. There's plenty of shame to go around.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8565163061165974643.post-1314573253073669232015-11-28T08:45:51.193-06:002015-11-28T08:45:51.193-06:00Sadly, given how Congress has gutted the non-profi...Sadly, given how Congress has gutted the non-profit division of the IRS, and IRS' legitimate fear of investigating a "Republican" (sorry, "non-partisan educational") organization, the odds of the IRS even considering an investigation are about zero, let alone opening one. Even in this most egregious of situations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8565163061165974643.post-49043844342492773022015-11-27T23:10:25.149-06:002015-11-27T23:10:25.149-06:00Don't remember you sounding the alarm in the 9...Don't remember you sounding the alarm in the 90s on this, Richard. And yet nothing much is different. Except where you sit. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com