ROBERT KLEIN/For The Patriot Ledger

Daniel DeSantis

Tri-town chief’s parting deal: 5 months salary

Daniel DeSantis will step down tomorrow as executive director of the agency overseeing redevelopment of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station after agreeing to a buyout of his contract, sources familiar with the negotiations have confirmed.

In exchange, DeSantis is expected to get a severance package equal to five months’ salary – about $42,350 – and five months’ benefits, the sources said.

The five-member board of the South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp. is expected to accept the negotiated resignation at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow night.

DeSantis has been on vacation at his New Hampshire home for the past two weeks and has declined to comment on the buyout negotiations.

He has been Tri-Town’s executive director since June 2003 and recently got a raise that boosted his annual salary to $101,650.

But the embattled executive has also come under public criticism recently for failing to pay $5,600 for 14 months rent for an apartment on the base he stayed in three nights a week. He paid the bill in full last month.

Also last month, a citizens advisory board criticized some of the spending on the closed base, including nearly $3,000 that Tri-Town spent on restaurant tabs and more than $1 million in legal fees in one year.

The public corporation’s board is made up of five men from the three towns where the 1,405-acre base is located, Weymouth, Rockland and Abington.

Robert Lundquist of Weymouth, the chairman of Tri-Town’s board, declined comment yesterday on DeSantis’ job status.

According to sources, the board began negotiating a severance package for DeSantis during a closed-door meeting about two weeks ago.

With DeSantis on his way out, Tri-Town officials have been looking for his replacement. Quincy’s former planning director, Richard Meade, said Tri-Town officials contacted him about 10 days ago and asked him to “get involved.”

Meade now works for real estate developer Daniel Flynn. “I considered it, but declined,” he said of the Tri-Town suggestion.

It is unclear if Tri-Town will seek an interim director or conduct an immediate search for a permanent replacement.

DeSantis missed a key presentation last week by master developer Lennar Partners on its redevelopment plan for the former air base.

DeSantis’ predecessor in the executive director’s job, Kenneth Goff, resigned in September 2002, on the same day that California-based Lennar Partners was chosen the lead developer of the air base.

The Tri-Town board chose Goff over DeSantis in 1999 to become the agency’s first executive director. DeSantis was the economic development director in Nashua, N.H., before coming back to Weymouth in June 2003.

Staff reporter Christopher Walker contributed to this report. Mark Fontecchio may be reached by clicking here.