Smithsonian head quits after salary, expenses flap

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum and research body, resigned after criticism of his "champagne lifestyle" threatened its funding, board members said on Monday.

Lawrence Small offered his resignation over the weekend, days after the U.S. Senate voted to freeze a $17 million budget increase for the organization unless the board slashed his salary to $400,000, the amount earned by the president of the United States.

"It's hard to ignore something like that," said Roger Sant, chairman of the board of regents executive committee.

The Smithsonian draws more than 23 million visitors a year, most of them to museums along Washington, D.C.'s National Mall that house everything from spaceships to diamonds to modern art. It has 19 museums, including the National Zoo, and nine research centers in locations that include Virginia, New York and Panama. Entry is free to nearly all its museums.

The institution has opened three new museums and raised $1 billion since Small took over as secretary in 2000. But his compensation has been widely criticized as excessive.

On top of a steadily escalating salary that reached $885,000 last year, Small has claimed more than $2 million in expenses, according to an internal review made public by the Washington Post.

Among those expenses: $160,000 in office renovations, $273,000 for housekeeping at his Washington home, $2,500 to clean a chandelier at his house and $12,000 to maintain his swimming pool.

Small also claimed $5,700 to fix his house's roof and walls at a time when leaking roofs threatened several Smithsonian museums and one was shuttered due to poor condition, according to the Post.

UNAUTHORIZED CLAIMS

The Smithsonian paid some of the expenses at his home because he agreed to hold receptions at the 6,500-square-foot (600-square-metre) residence in the city's upscale Woodley Park neighborhood, the Post said.

The report found that $90,000 of his claims, including charter jet travel, were unauthorized.

The board of regents initially said it considered Small's expenses to be reasonable.

But in the face of sustained criticism of what Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley dubbed Small's "champagne lifestyle," the board launched an independent review.

The board said on Monday it would also look at other large nonprofits to see if it should change its oversight practices.

"We certainly thought we were doing the right thing," Sant said. "Clearly a lot of people didn't agree."