WASHINGTON — The Postal Service paid more than $142,000 to move one of its vice presidents 10 miles and about $106,000 to move another 30 miles while both continued to report to work at the agency's Washington headquarters, a postal spokeswoman said today.
The two executives are M. Richard Porras, the chief financial officer and executive vice president, and John H. Ward, controller and vice president for finance. Both are advisers to Postmaster General William J. Henderson and manage the annual budget of more than $63 billion.
Postal executives moving to new duty assignments usually have to relocate at least 50 miles to be eligible for a "relocation benefit," but these two received exceptions after being promoted in 1998, spokeswoman Judy de Torok said.
"We feel that it's essential to be able to reward top-level executives," she said in an interview. "We need executives focused on the priorities and responsibilities of their new jobs and not concerned with the details of a move."
Henderson issued a statement defending the action.
"This decision to provide benefits was reviewed at the time from both a legal and ethical standpoint and was found to be consistent with our policies, which establish benefit programs comparable with those in the private sector," he said.
However, Henderson added that the agency's inspector general will review the policy at the request of Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Government Reform post office subcommittee
The two executives independently negotiated their benefit packages as a condition of accepting their new positions, de Torok said. She added that in recent months, several postal officials and executives had left for better paying jobs in private industry.
The Postal Service, a semi-independent part of the government, does not use taxpayer money to fund its operations.
The executives' benefit packages included $25,000 for each as a "miscellaneous allowance" that covers moving fees like new carpets, curtains or a plumber's bill for hooking up clothes washers and driers, de Torok said.
Porras' moving benefit included about $12,000 for the transportation of household goods and storage and about $37,000 for real estate expenses. Ward's expenses included about $7,000 for storage and transportation and about $32,000 for real estate.
The two executives said they wanted the relocation benefits because they were tired of long commutes, The Washington Post reported.
Porras moved 10 miles to be closer to a Postal Service training academy and Washington Dulles International Airport. Ward moved 30 miles and now lives three miles from headquarters.
The average relocation of a postal executive costs about $80,000, de Torok said. The Postal Service moved about 1,200 officials in 1998, with eight officials exempted from the 50-mile rule.