Congrats to her .. Shame she did all that work for a scam CEO..
Anna Maria Chavez, the Girl Scouts’ “cookie monster” CEO, isn’t making crumbs.
New tax filings peg her yearly salary at $393,380 — nearly four times the $104,000 she made annually heading a scout council in Texas, and more than her predecessor, Kathryn Cloninger, an eight-year CEO who made $356,911 in 2010.
The hefty pay package comes despite her tenure being marked by staff layoffs, membership and cookie-sale declines, budget cuts at headquarters, and local chapters under fire for selling or threatening to close campgrounds in 27 states.
And while the Scouts are cutting to the bone, Chavez spent $65,000 on a comfortable new throne for her 17th-floor Fifth Avenue office.
She ordered the renovation of the executive restroom to include marble and slate finishes and new glass doors for the shower, a source told The Post. Some of the money went to new office carpet and other work.
Victor Inzunza, a Girl Scouts spokesman, confirmed that the bathroom and executive offices were renovated, but would not comment on the cost or whether Chavez requested the work.
“If she is making 400 grand and everyone has to tighten their belts, that’s disgusting,” fumed an employee at the organization’s Manhattan HQ.
The worker said cookie sales declined by at least 5 percent and budgets are expected to be cut by about 10 percent.
Chavez came on as CEO on Oct. 1, 2011. She was paid $98,000 for three months of work in 2011 — out of a salary of $393,380 for a full year. She also got $71,906 in “other compensation” that year including expenses to move to New Jersey and retirement-plan contributions, according to tax filings.
Inzunza said he could not discuss the budget and that cookie sale numbers were not final.
The Girls Scouts had 3.18 million girl and adult volunteer members in 2012, down slightly from 2011.
The Girl Scouts’ headquarters has been in disarray since Chavez, 45, took over, with employees complaining about her dictatorial style and a climate of fear. Letters have gone to the organization’s board of directors seeking help, with one writer calling Chavez a “Cookie Monster.”
“If you want a lesson in workplace bullying, come right on down to GSUSA,” a writer said in a recent missive.
The organization’s problems have spread beyond Fifth Avenue.
Protests, lawsuits and even boycotts of cookie sales have sprouted nationwide as Girl Scout councils — which oversee local troops — announced plans to get rid of campgrounds. It is an effort that some believe has been orchestrated at the top.
Inzunza said camp decisions were made on the local level.
Among the camps on the chopping block is Eagle Island in the Adirondacks. Advocates sued the New Jersey council that runs the historic landmark in order to keep it open.
The CEO of the New Jersey council said the group needed to sell the camp in order to pay pension obligations and other employee benefits, according to court papers.
Local councils are being squeezed by rising contributions to the Girl Scouts pension plan, which is in such bad shape that the organization sought congressional assistance.
The plan faces a massive deficit — at least $340 million, according to a 2012 lawsuit filed in Tennessee.
The plan’s finances nosedived after more employees were added to it beginning in 2006 and other workers were offered early retirement packages, the lawsuit claims.
The changes came as the number of Girl Scout councils nationwide were consolidated from 312 to 112. The early retirement plan was offered to avoid layoffs as the groups merged.
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