The Attorney General’s Office announced today that it has completed an inquiry into the Citi Performing Arts Center and will take no further action against the Center, which has faced criticism in recent months for its decision to pay president and CEO Josiah A. Spaulding Jr. a $1.2 million bonus despite the nonprofit organization’s financial struggles.
A review, conducted by David G. Spackman, chief of Martha Coakley’s public charities division, concluded that while there were a few "weaknesses" in Citi Center procedures, the organization's establishment of Spaulding’s compensation and its business relationships with board members and staff were “generally consistent with what we would expect of our public charities.”
The announcement stated that where it found "weaknesses in certain procedures and documentation," the Citi Center had agreed to make changes.
The report also made clear that the review focused on legal questions, not whether the Citi Center’s board made sound business judgments.
Coakley’s office began its inquiry in the fall after the Globe reported on the Citi Center’s payment of Spaulding's bonus despite years of budget deficits and programming cuts, including a decision to save money by shortening the run of the organization's popular free production of Shakespeare on the Common. The Globe also reported on the Center's employment of Spaulding's wife as its website manager and its decision to retain companies either owned or managed by some of the group's trustees.
In a 10-page letter sent to Citi Center board chairman John William Poduska Sr., Spackman cleared the organization of any wrongdoing in making those decisions. He did ask that the Citi Center do a better job conducting regular performance reviews of Spaulding and his wife, Joyce Spinney, who is paid $37,953 to be the Citi Center’s part-time webmaster.
