Former MTA director works to make CEO pay public

PALMER — Matanuska Telephone Association’s advertisements urge cooperative members to “call on the company you own.” But if you do, don’t expect to find out how much you’re paying its chief executive officer or any other executives.

That information is still tightly guarded, especially since MTA’s IRS filings are no longer public, said CEO Greg Berberich.

“Beginning in 2008, based on MTA’s revenues and in accordance with IRS regulations, MTA was required to file the 1120 Form, which is not a public tax form,” Berberich explained in a Feb. 17 e-mail to the Frontiersman when asked about IRS Form 990, a public document MTA submitted prior to 2008. “From year to year it can change.”

According to that 990 Form from 2007, Berberich was paid about $359,000 and received an additional $55,000 of “deferred income.” His current salary came under scrutiny recently when the Frontiersman discovered Berberich had approved holiday bonuses of $1,000 for all 350 MTA employees, excluding his executive staff.

It is not publicly known how much Berberich and fellow MTA executives were awarded in bonuses at the end of 2010 or what their annual salaries are.

But former MTA board director Chuck Foster said he hopes that members will soon know at least the CEO’s annual salary, benefits and bonuses.

Foster and other MTA members are gathering signatures on a petition to allow members to vote on whether they think the CEO’s total cost to the cooperative should be released each year.

The petition seeks to amend Article VI, Section 5 of the MTA bylaws to require the board secretary to “certify the amount in dollars of total cost to the Association of the CEO position on an annual basis. This dollar figure shall be posted in the annual report to membership, and announced at the annual meeting of the membership. Furthermore, the CEO’s employment contract shall be made available to any member in good standing upon request in accordance with Article XI, Section 6.”

Foster only needs to secure 50 member signatures at least 90 days before this year’s annual membership meeting June 15. By Wednesday, Foster had collected about 20 signatures and was confident he wouldn’t have any trouble reaching 50.

“I’d like to get at least 200 signatures, just to show I’m not the only one who thinks MTA should be more forthcoming for its members,” Foster said. “It’s all about transparency and doing what’s right.”

Berberich said Thursday he wasn’t aware of Foster’s petition, but he didn’t seem to have a problem with it.

“Any time a member chooses to responsibly involve himself or herself in their cooperative is a healthy thing,” Berberich said.

When asked again by the Frontiersman to disclose his salary, Berberich stated his compensation and the release of that information are determined by the MTA board of directors. He added that the board discussed at its Jan. 19 meeting developing a policy for releasing his salary information.

Foster, who resigned from the board about a month ago, also is making an issue out of funds spent each year for executives and board members to attend the annual Alaska Telephone Association Winter Conference in Hawaii.

Berberich said MTA spent about $20,000 to send staff and board members to this year’s ATA conference, but he said that it was well worth the expense.

“I believe the winter conference was held in Hawaii for two reasons: first, and most important, was to strengthen our working relationship with our Hawaii counterparts,” Berberich explains in his is e-mail. “This was so important then and is still important today. Both Alaska and Hawaii support each other on issues that impact our two states far differently, and most often far more dramatically, than felt by the contiguous states. Second, it was difficult to find a place in Alaska in January to which we could attract the quality of speakers and participants we needed.”

Berberich said the ATA conference location has been a concern for the MTA board for years because of its cost.

He said that in 1998, the MTA board proposed a resolution to ATA to hold all meetings and conferences within the state of Alaska.

“ATA did not adopt this resolution,” he explained. “In response, MTA’s board, at that time, decided they would no longer attend the ATA winter conference. However, MTA’s board understood the importance and supported staff attendance.”

Last October, the MTA board authorized travel for board members to attend the ATA Conference, he said.

“This motion passed with a 3-2 vote, with directors Al Strawn and Earl Lackey dissenting,” he said. “In fact, director Foster was scheduled to attend this year’s meeting; prior to his resignation he canceled his trip and, as a former director, Mr. Foster attended the ATA winter conference for many years.”

Today is the last day to submit an application to fill Foster’s vacant board seat. To apply, go to http://mtasolutions.com/images/board/mtaboardapp2011.pdf

To inquire about Foster’s petition, call him at 376-5915.

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.