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VOCE
Vol. 2, No. 7 Taking Pride in Our Culture
AID Atlanta Director Batson To Leave Agency
The administration of controversial AID
Atlanta executive director Buren W.
Batson, Jr., is apparently coming to an end,
according to high placed sources at the
agency.
A development report prepared at the
request of the Board of Directors criticized
Batson and said "The Executive Director
needs to step down on whatever equitable
basis can be arranged." The report was
presented to the board in late April of this
year.
Nancy Paris, president of the Board of
Directors, confirmed that the board was in
negotiation with Batson as to the exact
terms of his leave-taking when Southern
Voice went to press May 22.
"He was hired to do one thing and now,
looking at the future, it looks like the
agency needs something different," Paris
said." And it's not good or bad. But now,
the agency is going through a different
phase of growth." Paris* ^ied to discuss
the negotiations further
Batson also declined commenL"Much of
the current situation is the result of
inappropriate use of private informal'"-' t
will have no further comment, now 1
later," he said.
Batson's forecast departure is ajulu * *v
in response to a development rcpoog spac
prepared by consultant Roger F. Cotess 1.
The report was generated at the reqfraSGf
the AID Atlanta board of directors, to
determine the likely success or failure of a
$l to $2 million fundraising campaign by
the AIDS agency.
RHONDA MENSEN
Buren W. Batson, Jr.
Congdon's conclusion was "that the
image of AiD Atlanta is at this time not
sufficient to support a major fundraising
effort among the public.
"The fact that almost all of the people
interviewed (for the report) want the agency
to survive is, however, very positive," he
concluded.
With regard to Batson, Congdon agreed
"with the findings that the administration of
AID Atlanta has damaged the agency's
image.
During the interview phase of the report,
Congdon found that 79% of those
interviewed "expressed concern over either
his (Batson's) inability to lead, his overall
demeanor and/or his lack of
management/people skills."
Congdon interviewed 85 people who
"represented a good cross section of the
professional, educational, commercial,
corporate, foundation, financial and
political leadership in the Atlanta area."
Paris cautioned, however, that the
development report was only a part of the
boards decision to ask Batson to leave the
agency. "A development report is not a
management report," she said.
"There is no one person who's the
problem," she added.
Congdon's report also criticized the
board of directors, which he said had
serious flaws that would need to be
corrected before the agency could mount a
successful fundraising drive. In his
conclusion, Congdon stated the "some
board members must step aside and
assume other roles in the organization
allowing room for the new board
members" with a higher visibility.
"(We) recognize that we don't have a
high-profile board," Paris said in response
to Congdon's criticisms, "but we are the
people who were willing and able to step
forward at the time when the leaders of
Atlanta's business community would not.
"We are the people who are trying to
put in place a mechanism for recruiting
those leaders so we will have a board of
greater visibility," she added.
- Chris Duncan
Battered Women's Agency Loses State Funding
Advocates Charge Rep. Tom Crosby With "Lesbian-baiting"
It appears homophobia has claimed another victim in Georgia.
State officials have confirmed that the Georgia Network
Against Domestic Violence (GNADV), based in Atlanta, will no
longer be the pass-through agency for state funds to shelters for
victims of domestic violence. For the past four years, the Georgia
Network has administered $320,000 in state funds to 21 shelters
and received an additional $50,000-about half of its operating
budget-through its contract with the Department of Human
Resources (DHR). That cut will force the Network to eliminate
two of its three member staff and will significantly reduce its
statewide outreach efforts on behalf of battered women.
Advocates for battered women allege that the decision to cancel
the Network’s contract with the DHR was made primarily because
of "lesbian-baiting" by democratic representative Thomas Crosby,
Jr. during the recent legislative session. It is alleged that Crosby
referred to the Network, on more than one occasion, as "just a
bunch of lesbians".
Crosby, a Waycross tire dealer and chairman of the DHR
subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, was
determined to eliminate the Network's role in dispersing the funds
to shelters, according to Smith.
"It's all homophobia," charges GNADV executive director
Margo Smith. "If you remain a strong advocate for battered women
you're going to piss people off, and if you do that, what's the first
thing they're going to call you?"
Crosby said he received complaints from some shelters that
their boards would not permit them to join the Network because
"sexual preference" is included in the policy. Crosby explained that
he asked Margo Smith "on several occasions" to remove the phrase
because he didn't see the necessity for it "Their policy had all the
safeguards in it without 'that'," he told Southern Voice.
The State of Georgia's affirmative action statement does not include
'sexual preference or orientation,’" Crosby said.
Smith and other Network members said that Crosby has
consistently made disparaging remarks about the organization and
that he spent the entire last session trying to undermine the
Network’s efforts with other lawmakers. "The more we resisted,
the more he persisted," she said.
Crosby admitted he made a concerted effort to get the Network
to change its mission statement, but he insisted that he was not
Cont'd on Page 5
May 25,1989
Lomax Outlines
Gay Platform
Fulton County Commission Chair
Michael L. Lomax said that he views
discrimination against gay men and lesbians
as a civil rights violation and that he will
continue to actively support the gay and
lesbian community if elected mayor of
Atlanta.
At a May 15 meeting of Legislate
Equality for Gays and Lesbians (LEGAL),
Lomax presented an extensive platform on
gay and lesbian issues, which covered the
areas of human rights, hate crimes and
AIDS.
"I hope that my administration can be
one where the gay and lesbian community
feels they have a friend, a supporter, a
strong advocate," Lomax said.
"It's definitely a first - at least in Atlanta
- the first time that someone has taken so
much interest and time to listen to people’s
concerns, formulate something
comprehensive and yet try to pinpoint our
most important issues," said LEGAL
President Jim Gilkeson.
Evett Bennett
Fulton County Commission Chair
Michael Lomax speaking at LEGAL
Within 30 days after he becomes mayor,
Lomax said, he will require the Bureau of
Police Services to use "Hate Crime" as a
reporting category and to implement
training for the identification of such crimes.
Also, Lomax said he will direct the
Commissioner of Public Safety to form a
permanent Hate Crimes Intelligence and
Tactical Unit within the Bureau of Police
Sendees. This unit will be responsible for
identifying, investigating and halting hate
crimes in Atlanta, as well as for operating a
24-hour "crisis hotline" to report hate crimes
that might otherwise go unreported.
Maynard H. Jackson, Lomax’s main
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