Suspended Greater Sacramento NAACP president Betty Williams and an executive officer appear to have used their own businesses to manage a multi-million dollar county-sponsored pandemic-era food delivery program, according to financial filings obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
Williams, the California civil rights stalwart and longest serving president in the Sacramento chapter’s history, and branch education chair Salena Pryor, were among six executive officers suspended in October by the national civil rights organization for alleged financial improprieties, including the use of their positions for financial gain.
County documents show Williams’ Sacramento outreach and staffing firm, 1Solution LLC, and Pryor’s Pryor Consulting were paid as independent contractors as part of a $2.5 million contract to administer Sacramento County’s food insecurity pilot program, which ran from March 2022 through June 2023.
The program, known as Dine-In 2, teamed local restaurants affiliated with the nonprofit Family Meals Sacramento and the NAACP to deliver meals to local residents during the pandemic. The NAACP held administrative and community outreach responsibilities.
In all, $225,600 in salaries for independent contractors were charged to the contract, the county’s documents show.
Pryor, whose consultancy was listed as a business compliance officer would be paid $8,000 a month or $120,000. Williams’ 1Solution LLC, listed as both executive director and administrative assistant, would receive $21,600 and $48,000, respectively, in total salary. An accountant and chef adviser to the participating restaurants were also paid from the salary pool.
The county’s contract prohibited contractors from having financial interests in work agreed to in the contract.
Thomas Joo, a professor and contracts expert at University of California, Davis School of Law, said the terms are clear.
“The contract prohibits the nonprofit’s officers from using their own businesses,” Joo said. “The counter-argument could be that their businesses were the best suited, though they would have to show they went through a bidding process.”
Without a formal bidding process, Joo said it “puts the nonprofit in a bad light.”
“Unless they went through a bidding process, they’re going to be seen as enriching themselves at the cost of the nonprofit,” Joo said.
It is unclear if these contract payments led to the dismissals, but national NAACP auditors put Williams on notice of suspected financial impropriety as early as May 2023, one month after the Greater Sacramento branch submitted its annual financial report in April.
In an October letter to Williams suspending her membership, NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson contended Williams “may have engaged in financial impropriety benefiting” her or her business.
“I am satisfied that your continued membership in the Association presents a danger of harm to the NAACP and the Sacramento Branch NAACP. Action is necessary to prevent or mitigate that harm,” Johnson wrote in his letter ousting Williams.
Local NAACP members in October reacted in anger and surprise at the seemingly sudden suspensions. Some claimed the discipline was politically motivated to quash Williams’ bid to unseat the state NAACP president in October’s election.
Supporters picketed outside the Burlingame hotel that hosted the NAACP’s California/Hawaii state convention, days after Williams and the others were ordered to step down.
Now, months after the October suspensions, the details of the allegations remain unclear. Williams was given 15 days from the date she received the Oct. 23 letter to request a hearing. It is not known whether she requested one.
Williams and Pryor did not respond to requests for comment.
National NAACP officials have not responded to repeated requests for comment, including answering questions about the local chapter’s operation of the food program. Williams and the other senior officers remain barred from the Sacramento chapter.
County monitoring local NAACP
As the national NAACP investigates the allegations of financial misdeeds, Sacramento County officials have requested records related to the chapter’s management of the Dine-In 2 program under Williams’ watch, according to documents and Sacramento County officials.
The Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance inquiry is not related to the national NAACP’s investigation, county officials said on last week. But its review will be thorough.
Inspectors seek records related to the branch’s contracts for the food pilot program and outreach campaign, including recent audited financial statements, invoice claims, transactions and other documents.
The Dine-In 2 program served nearly 58,000 meals as of April 2023, chapter officials said. But behind the scenes, participating restaurant owners cooking the meals expressed frustration over how the program was being managed. One participating restaurant owner pointed to late compensation payments and questioned where the money was going.
The restaurateur said owners waited months for reimbursement checks for the meals they prepared and delivered. The restaurant owner, who signed a non-disclosure agreement with chapter president Williams, wished to remain anonymous fearing repercussions.
Ethan Dye, the county’s Human Assistance director, said in a December notification letter to Sacramento NAACP officials that the county’s review is not an audit.
“Our primary objective is to review the documentation supporting the amounts that are invoiced to us,” read the Dec. 18 letter obtained by The Bee.
There were “serious concerns” about both the chapter’s record keeping and the staffing needed to stand up the program, a county spokeswoman said last week in response to questions about the upcoming review. Those concerns led the county to classify the Sacramento NAACP chapter as a “high risk” to receive contracts.
New NAACP leaders in place
Bobby Bivens, the longtime Stockton NAACP branch president and a former national NAACP board member, now serves as an administrator of the Sacramento branch. The chapter’s first vice president, Ardell La’Mond Harrison, now serves as interim president, while other members have moved into the positions vacated with the October suspensions.
Bivens, who spoke with The Bee last week, said national NAACP officials are “still in the process of conducting its investigation,” but that their inquiry is nearing an end.
“It takes time. The board wants to be fair to everybody,” Bivens said. “I’m looking forward to (national officials) quickly reaching a conclusion to this.”
Bivens also said the Greater Sacramento branch continues its work, saying its role in the community has not changed.
“What we do, no one else does. We’re not stopping the services that are being provided,” Bivens said. “We want to make sure they keep going as they’ve been going.”
This story was originally published January 08, 2024 5:00 AM.
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