Filings track LynnCAM salary jump

LYNN – Salaries and “other compensation” listed by a local community cable studio in state attorney general?s filings more than tripled since 2006, far outstripping increases in cable provider payments in nine years to the studio.Lynn Community Access and Media, Inc.?s – LynnCAM?s – payroll jumped from $72,500 in 2006 to $255,000 in 2013, according to salary and compensation figures listed in federal tax filings with the attorney general.By contrast, money paid to LynnCAM by cable providers Comcast and Verizon rose from $394,000 before dipping to $366,000 in 2008 and then climbing to $504,000 in 2013, according to filings.Located in the former St. Jean?s Credit Union on Western Avenue, LynnCAM is under scrutiny after a city attorney said former and current employees reported “financial irregularities” in the Western Avenue operation.City officials have asked the attorney general?s public charity division to take control of LynnCAM, said city attorney James Lamanna, until a reformed board of directors “gets a handle on what, if anything, improper is going on there.”Robert Sewell, the studio?s treasurer and a board member, called the city investigation “bogus” on Wednesday and called LynnCAM President Karen Chapman?s resignation “a sad day.” Sewell said he is looking forward to the eventual appointment of new members to the five-member board to “make LynnCAM as best as we can.”Chapman?s Sept. 18 resignation from the presidency and board leaves a yet-to-be-filled vacancy. Retired Deputy Police Chief Kenneth Santoro is joining the board to fill another vacancy.When the board will meet is unclear – Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy named Lawrence McCully to the board in June 2013, and McCully on Tuesday said he has yet to attend a board meeting or hear of one being scheduled.?If the board is able to have a meeting, we will elect a president,” he said.Chapman declined this week through her attorney to comment on her resignation or city action on LynnCAM, but financial documents filed for the organization – including Form 990 tax filings – bear her signature.According to the filings, LynnCAM salaries and “other compensation” totaled $150,000 in 2008 and climbed to $182,000 in 2009. The studio?s 2013 filing lists $221,000 in total salary and compensation in 2012.Chapman?s annual $6,000 board compensation is listed in some filings, but detailed salary and payroll information for employees does not appear in 990 forms or other filings with the AG.McCully said with about a half dozen employees working at LynnCAM, the current total salary is on par with what he would anticipate veteran employees would earn.?For people who have been there, in some cases, eight years, it?s not too bad,” he said.LynnCAM employees this week said the studio currently has three full-time and two part-time workers.According to LynnCAM?s 2013 filing, Comcast and Verizon each contributed half the money LynnCAM received. The contribution formula is outlined in the providers? contracts with the city.Sewell said Chapman and other LynnCAM employees deserve praise for transforming the studio with its 49 community member participants over the last eight years.?Look at where we came from – a moldy building on Woodman Street to a beautiful building,” he said.