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United Way money went for Country Club membership, Panthers tickets & trips

By Tom Roussey - bio | email

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - The Charlotte office of the United Way released Tuesday afternoon expense reports for former CEO Gloria Pace King.

King was fired last year amid outrage over her pay.  In her final full year with the United Way, she received a total of $1.2 million in salary and pension pay.

We now know she received tens of thousands of dollars more than that when you factor in her business expenses and perks.

The following is a partial list of the things she was paid during the last 27 months of her time as the organization's CEO:

• More than $5,000 a year for membership to an upscale country club in Mooresville.
• $750 a month for a lease on a car.
• An average of hundreds of dollars a month for gas and other car expenses.
• Nearly $3,000 for car maintenance expenses in fiscal year 2008.
• Season tickets to the Carolina Panthers in 2008 worth more than $4,200.
• More than $38,000 for 19 trips all over the country.
• An average of hundreds of dollars a month for meals with volunteers.

In addition to her huge salary and huge pension plan, the money for these expenses came from United Way donors.

Many in the public are outraged the money they donated to help the needy was used to support what critics say was a lavish lifestyle.

The United Way admits it needed to oversee King's expenses better than it did.  Earlier this month, the organization adopted reforms it hopes will keep anything like this controversy from ever happening again.

Mac Everett is currently the interim CEO and he replaced King in August.  He's being paid $20,000 a month and has been asked to stay until July.  If he does, he will have earned around $200,000 for 10 months of being interim CEO.

WBTV left a message for King's attorney, but as of late Tuesday night, no one returned our calls.