Masonry Magazine December 1995 Page. 8
FROM THE PRESIDENT
By L. C. PARDUE, JR.
President, Mason Contractors
Association of America
P.T.
Barnum
Rides
Again
I DON'T KNOW how you feel, but I just hate to be taken advantage of. An article came over my desk in mid-September which didn't shock me all that much, but was still quite an eye-opener when the numbers were laid down in front of me. For those of you that are contributing to the IMI the following excerpts are dedicated to you. For those of you who are being pressured to contribute to the IMI, read on.
Who benefits from the IMI? The masonry industry or Jack Joyce and his inner circle? Over the past few years, Jack Joyce has gained exclusive control of IMI and its finances, using it as a private slush fund to help conceal his extravagant spending habits and pay for his ego gratification.
Consider the following. The IMI is divided into market promotions, research and development, apprenticeship and training and labor and management relations. What started out as a promising, positive program for the union masonry industry has deteriorated into an essentially empty series of efforts that are largely designed to further the personal agendas of Jack Joyce and the select few who comprise his inner circle.
Only 20 percent of $1,754,069 of IMI's $8,471,000 budget for 1995 is spent on local area training and promotion programs. The balance is spent on "comprehensive programs" according to former IMI director Ray Lackey. These "comprehensive programs are comprised of, for example: Trustee Meetings, national and area administrative salaries and expenses, Masonry Fair, Masonry Camp, the International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen (ICE-the Union's Contractor Association) and Jack Joyce's travels. On top of this is stacked IMI's top heavy executive expenses that would choke any small business.
President of IMI Joan Baggett Calambokidis pulls down $200,000 per year after being asked to leave the Clinton White House as Director of Political Affairs where she was earning $126,000. She also received thousands of dollars to help her buy a house in Annapolis. What else does she make and how? The IMI refuses to disclose Calambokidis' contract.
Retired IMI Director, Ray Lackey was given a three year contract as a consultant to IMI for $60 per hour. Given his current work load he stands to make $120.000 this year, which is more than he made as director. At his retirement he was given a $5,300 watch and a brand new Ford Explorer all paid for by the IMI. If this wasn't enough, he's also drawing his pension from the International Pension Fund. Where do I sign up?
IMI's new Communication Director, Hazel Bradford pulls down a miserly $76,000 salary. Hazel was hired to promote the Masonry Craft Fair last fall in Chicago yet spent much of her time responding on Jack Joyce's behalf to an article of Joyce's lavish foreign and domestic travel expenditures. If her job was to promote the Craft Fair, why was the public relations firm of Schramm Associates retained to promote it for $225,000.
Tara Bruns, Calambokidis' administrative assistant, was hired for a paltry $35,000 per year, up from her $20,000 salary at the White House. She travels to Florida on Friday to be with her fiancee over the weekend and returns on Mondays. Allowing for 4 hours worth of work on Friday and Monday that gives us 32 hours a week less two weeks vacation, one week sick leave and two weeks legal holidays that makes it about $23.25 per hour, plus benefits. That's better than 99% of the bricklayers.
Bill Armstrong. IMI's California Consultant pulls down $2.000 per month. This is a real bargain except that the IMI currently operates no programs in California.
Amon Burke, New England Government Grants Specialist pulls down $33,000. Get ready for this one-it gets complex. Burke was hired by James Rosenbush to obtain government grants of $40-million to build a national training and research center and five regional training centers. Rosenbush was hired to work for IMI at $1,500 per day, three days per week from July 1994 to December 1994. When IMI was unable to pay his fee which amounts to $234,000 annually, Rosenbush was paid by the BAC (does this sound like commingling of funds or what?) Rosenbush is retired Continued on Page 33