ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512110090
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Rep. Kweisi Mfume was chosen Saturday to head the NAACP, after 15 months during which the nation's oldest civil rights organization developed a reputation for controversy.
The Maryland Democrat, who said he will leave Congress in mid-February, said his first order of business would be to address the organization's $3.2 million debt and change the group's administrative structure.
``We're not going to sit by and watch the world change,'' the former head of the Congressional Black Caucus said. ``We are going to change.''
Elected by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's board in a unanimous vote Saturday, Mfume said he would seek to cut the size of the board. The organization has more board members than staff members.
In the past, executive directors have clashed with the 64-member board over the extent of their power, and potential candidates for the position have blamed the board for scaring them away.
But Mfume said one of the conditions he demanded when he agreed to take the job was that he report to the board's 17-member executive committee rather than the entire panel.
``It is easier to assemble 17 than 64 on any given day,'' Mfume said. His title will be president and chief executive officer, reflecting his desire for more autonomy.
Mfume said he would meet with Chairwoman Myrlie Evers-Williams this week to come up with a short-term and long-term financial plan, both of which would include soliciting donations from corporations, approaching potential individual donors such as athletes and actors, and trying to increase the ranks of the NAACP's 500,000 members.
Mfume said he hoped his decision to leave a safe seat in Congress for the leadership of the beleaguered NAACP would encourage people to return to the organization.
Many of the organization's large donors withdrew their support last year after allegations of financial impropriety were leveled at former executive director Benjamin Chavis and former chairman William Gibson.
Chavis was fired in August 1994 for committing more than $330,000 in NAACP funds without the board's approval to settle a sex discrimination suit against him. Gibson was ousted in February after accusations he double-dipped on expenses.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Mfumeby CNB