Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 7, 1992 TAG: 9203070291
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Restoring the faith of United Way's 1,400 local chapters that pay dues to the national group will top the list of challenges for Kenneth W. Dam, named Thursday as interim president of the national charity to replace William Aramony.
Allegations about Aramony's fat paychecks, extravagant travel expenses and hiring practices which favored his friends led to his resignation a week ago.
The allegations also prompted local United Way campaigns across the country to delay paying their dues to the national group, at least until the charges are resolved.
Dam - a vice president at IBM and a former deputy U.S. secretary of state - was introduced to local United Way chapters Friday afternoon in a live television conference clearly designed to win back support of the local chapters.
Dam, who will work full time for free until the charity completes a formal search for a permanent president, told local United Way leaders that their advice would be valued during a time of crisis.
"Please write, please call," Dam said in the television conference beamed into meeting rooms at local United Ways, including Roanoke's.
"I need your help," he said. "I need your suggestions."
The national group also needs the local groups' money, admitted John Akers, chairman of the United Way of America's board of governors.
"The United Way of America is solvent, assuming that the dues from local United Ways keep being paid," Akers said. "If revenues don't continue to flow . . . this will become a problem."
Most local United Ways, which are autonomous from the national group, voluntarily pay 1 percent of the proceeds of their annual fund-raising drives to the national organization. For Roanoke, that's $44,000 a year.
Dam's arrival Friday will not change the United Way of Roanoke Valley's decision to withhold quarterly payments until an investigation of Aramony is finished in April, said Robert Kulinski, Roanoke's president.
"There's no change whatsoever," Kulinski said after watching the television conference. "We'll make a very conscious decision when we restore dues - if we restore dues."
William Whelan, head of Lynchburg's United Way, said that his group will continue delaying payment, too. "We're going to do just exactly what we said," Whelan said.
Both Whelan and Kulinski acknowledged the need for a national organization, which offers advertising, training and coordination for the local chapters.
Dropping the national organization permanently because of Aramony's troubles would be a mistake, Whelan said.
Asked whether the national organization was afraid of the locals and their withholding of funds, Kulinski and Whelan chuckled.
"I think they're listening, and that's good," Whelan said.
Kulinski said the national board's swift move to bring in an interim president was wise. A week ago, Aramony had said he would stay on as president until a new one was located.
Meanwhile Friday, The Washington Post reported that national United Way officials said Aramony still is receiving his $390,000 salary and has a contract that could furnish him "several hundred thousand dollars" in severance and pension benefits.
During the teleconference, Akers had said in response to a local official from Connecticut that Aramony remains on his $390,000 salary and that "significant legal questions need to be resolved" about his pension.
A knowledgeable source told The Washington Post later that the board has some discretion in how much severance pay Aramony could receive, but faces a possible cost of "several hundred thousand dollars." The source said the board is negotiating with Aramony.
Kulinski, the Roanoke United Way president, said Dam appeared to be well-qualified for the top job.
Dam, formerly provost and professor at the University of Chicago Law School, also served in the Office of Management and Budget during the 1970s and worked as executive director of the Council on Economic Policy. Still, Kulinski said, he had hoped for an interim leader with a "higher public profile" to help restore the public's confidence in the charity.
Dam was not "a Jimmy Carter or a Gerald Ford," Kulinski said. "From a public relations point of view, nobody's ever heard of Ken Dam."
Reaction to the publicity about Aramony from Kulinski's Roanoke donors has been mixed, he said.
Those who have closely read and watched news accounts of events have been "very pleased with the leadership Roanoke has shown," Kulinski said. Roanoke was one of the first locals in the country to announce it would not pay its dues to the United Way of America.
Some who did not follow the reports as closely, though, have been upset, he said.
A handful of people have telephoned United Way of Roanoke Valley to talk about the allegations about Aramony, Kulinski said. Once they've got all their questions answered, "25 out of 26 of them hang up pleased."
But another eight to 15 people have called up and canceled their donation pledges in the past few weeks, Kulinski said.
by CNB