
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 19, 1995                   TAG: 9505190101
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

NAACP WOES CONTINUE

Myrlie Evers-Williams won the battle when she became chairwoman of the NAACP board of directors. A mere three months later, she is in the thick of what seems like war.

This weekend, in her first session as presiding officer, Evers-Williams must persuade the board to do something it is reluctant to do: Disclose a long-awaited audit of NAACP finances.

That audit would detail the spending that hurled the NAACP $3.2 million into debt and shocked board members into unseating Evers-Williams' predecessor, William Gibson. He was accused of using NAACP money by ``double-dipping'' on his expense account.

But it also may reveal fiscal shenanigans by others. Sore feelings over the audit could spell trouble for the rest of Evers-Williams' weekend agenda, which includes appointing a search committee for a new executive director and addressing a contract dispute over the NAACP's money-losing Image Awards television program.

Evers-Williams wants the board to approve release of the audit so she can maintain the cash flow that has brought $2 million into the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in recent days.

She says that's the only way to reassure contributors that the NAACP is serious about vanquishing its financial problems.

``That's imperative,'' Evers-Williams said in an interview. ``We still have a debt. We've had to put almost all of our programs on hold because we haven't had the funding. We're asking for help.''

What is getting in the way, however, is concern that a broad release of the independent audit may lay open other spending irregularities, deepening divisions between factions loyal to Gibson and those loyal to Evers-Williams.

Two board members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say they expect some factions on the board to try to hide behind the allegations that Gibson misspent money in an effort to divert attention from themselves.

According to the sources, the NAACP's audit committee asked all 64 board members to fill out three- to five-page questionnaires regarding their expenses.

Gibson, however, was asked to respond to a questionnaire that was more than a dozen pages long, both sources said.

by CNB