The Los Angeles Times reports that executives of the Tarzana Treatment Center, a tax-supported nonprofit that is by far the largest user of public funds for drug treatment in L.A. County, have made it a lucrative operation for themselves, with compensation and business arrangements that are highly unusual in the industry. Chief operating officer Albert Senella earned $428,057 in 2007. Chief executive Scott Taylor made $330,732 working 32 hours a week.
And that’s not counting income from other arrangements involving legal services and real estate that several industry experts said they had never before seen at a nonprofit. Taylor, a lawyer with a long-standing contract to provide Tarzana with legal counsel, earned $237,956 in 2007 — on top of his salary. Taylor, Senella and two other board members also have ownership stakes in six properties that Tarzana leases as its headquarters and treatment sites. In 2007, the four men collected rent of more than $2.27 million. The Times said the finances “raise questions about Tarzana’s public mission and about how the government allocates drug treatment dollars.”