Sacramento NAACP president, 5 officials suspended amid financial misconduct investigation

At least six officers at the Greater Sacramento NAACP including its president, longtime advocate and influential leader Betty Williams have been suspended by the national civil rights organization on allegations of financial impropriety, information obtained by The Sacramento Bee shows.

Those suspended include executive officers at the local chapter and potentially other members stemming from the Sacramento branch’s financial report submitted to the NAACP’s national headquarters in April. National NAACP legal officials flagged the potential improprieties and recommended the suspensions to the organization’s president and CEO Derrick Johnson.

The latest information suggests that Williams, the longest-serving president in the history of the Sacramento branch, was made aware of the issues as early as May of this year — issues that were categorized as “extensive” by NAACP leaders.

The suspension letter to Williams from NAACP president Johnson dated Oct. 23 and obtained by The Bee flatly accuses the longtime local leader of using the organization and her position for her own gain. The letter did not specify how Williams allegedly abused her position.

Williams, the longest-serving president in the history of the Sacramento NAACP chapter, is long recognized as a statewide champion for civil rights.

Efforts to reach Williams through her representatives have been unsuccessful, but Williams was expected to release a statement, Lynn Berkley-Baskin, a chapter spokeswoman, said Saturday.

“By engaging in such inappropriate activity and by using the Association’s name and resources for personal benefit, you have engaged in conduct that is inimical to the best interests of the association,” the letter read. “Action is necessary to prevent or mitigate that harm.”

In the letter, national president Johnson suspended Williams immediately pending an investigation and hearing, saying her membership “presents a danger of harm” to the NAACP and the Sacramento local chapter, barring her from holding any post in the organization.

The news comes as members gather this weekend in the Bay Area for the NAACP state conference in Burlingame.

The Bee earlier reported that four members, including Williams, had been suspended pending an investigation and hearing into the allegations.

Word first came Friday afternoon in a fiery rebuke of the charges from members of the Sacramento chapter expressing outrage at Williams’ apparent ouster, calling the decision politically motivated just as members gather for this weekend’s NAACP state convention in Burlingame.

In addition to Williams, branch officers including treasurers, a second vice president and committee chairs also received suspension letters from the NAACP’s national leadership days before elections were to be held at the state meeting.

Velma Sykes, second vice president at the Sacramento chapter, confirmed she was among the officers suspended in the wake of the allegations. Reached Saturday morning, Sykes denied the allegations of financial misdeeds and said she is contesting the decision.

Sykes said she was “absolutely blindsided,” by the suspensions.

“I am appealing. It’s based on lies. I can’t allow people to believe what he’s saying is true,” Sykes said. She also echoed claims first voiced by members Friday that the suspensions and their timing days before the state convention and elections were politically motivated.

“Shame on the national and state office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — allegations without an investigation,” a Friday statement in support of Williams read. “Allegations of improper use of funds (are) just that, an allegation that has not been grounded in truth.”

Williams was mounting a bid for the state chapter’s presidency against incumbent Rick Callender, Sykes said, before the local leader’s suspension derailed those plans.

Sykes said Williams’ election effort has now turned to a campaign to delay this weekend’s election.

“It’s not fair that they’re holding an election that she was going to win. She’s challenging for her right to run,” Sykes said. “She wants to — and should be — the next California/Hawaii NAACP president.”

On the day she was suspended, Williams appeared with family members at an NAACP-organized rally for Kaylin Footman, a Sacramento teacher who was arrested during a mental health crisis.

Rally planned in support of Williams

The statement continued, saying that without an investigation, the charges could “ruin” Williams’ reputation and that of the Sacramento branch.

Williams’ supporters planned a noon rally Saturday outside the Marriott Hotel convention site in the Bay Area city to protest the decision.

Aliane Murphy-Hasan, a lifetime member and former vice president of the Sacramento chapter, said state NAACP leaders were concerned with the findings of the annual audit of the local branch, but did not elaborate, deferring to Williams.

Murphy-Hasan said officials at local chapters are typically given advance warning of possible action, and the opportunity to correct or clarify any irregularities in an audit. She said the suspension letter from the national headquarters was the local officials’ only notice.

That appears to be contradicted by the new information obtained by The Bee that suggests local NAACP leaders had known of the national office’s concerns for months before the suspensions were handed out.

California/Hawaii NAACP State Chapter President Rick Callender, who is also attending the Burlingame convention, told The Bee he had “zero input” in the suspension letter.

“I didn’t see it or approve it. I read it the same time she (Williams) did,” Callender said.

Callender referred further queries to national NAACP officials at the Baltimore headquarters of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.

Messages to national NAACP officials in Maryland were not returned Friday night.