NAACP head is paid by tribes, backs their plan

The president of the California NAACP has been paid more than $40,000 in consulting fees – and the organization itself has received $60,000 – from a coalition of Indian tribes at the same time the civil rights group has endorsed four ballot measures pushed by its tribal benefactors.

The payments to Alice Huffman, who has served as president of the state conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People since 1999, continue a three-year pattern in which Huffman's political firm has been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by special interest groups.

Those same interests, including tobacco and pharmaceutical companies, have also donated tens of thousands of dollars directly to the state NAACP while receiving the organization's backing.

It is commonplace for political campaigns to hire consultants for outreach to various constituencies and ethnic groups. But Huffman's dual role as a paid political strategist and president of a respected civil rights organization has raised questions about whether the group's endorsement can be bought.

In an interview, Huffman insisted there was no link between the money and the endorsements.

"I take it as a privilege to be able to work on their behalf," she said of the tribes.

Huffman described a political "world of mutuality" in which "you ought to take money from people that at some point you might be able to do something in return to support them when the time comes."

Huffman's practices have drawn criticism.

The Rev. Harold Mayberry, pastor of First AME Church of Oakland, a leader in the Bay Area African American community, said community leaders "have a responsibility to ensure that their actions are above reproach."

"It's crucial in an organization that is fighting for the rights and dignity of people to ensure that its leadership does not leave itself open to attacks, questionable attacks of character," he said.

Huffman's position as state NAACP president is unpaid.

The 71-year-old Huffman said stories about the payments she receives as a consultant crop up every election year because, as president of the NAACP, she can take on only those clients whose causes have been endorsed by the NAACP.

"There's always overlap because there's just one president," Huffman said.

During an interview with Huffman and two leaders of the organization, Huffman said she has on "two to three occasions" offered to resign her presidency to fend off conflict-of-interest charges – offers she said were rebuffed.

She continues her consulting work because "campaigning and politics is my livelihood," she said. "That's how I make my money to buy my Gucci handbags and other things that enhance my standard of living."

She signed her most recent consulting contract with the tribes after the NAACP's October convention, she said, when the group endorsed the Indian gambling deals – now known as Propositions 94, 95, 96 and 97.

The four measures, which would allow four Indian tribes to add 17,000 slot machines at their casinos, are on the Feb. 5 presidential primary ballot.

Opponents of the compacts declined to comment on the endorsement. Roger Salazar, spokesman for the Yes on 94, 95, 96 and 97 campaign, said the contract and the endorsement were unrelated.

"She has tremendous reach into the African American voting communities, and we wanted to bring that experience to the campaign," Salazar said.

Huffman's firm, AC Public Affairs, operates out of the same office as the state NAACP. State records show it received about $40,000 in December from a campaign account funded by the tribes seeking compacts – the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.

Huffman said there is "a natural bond" between the Indian and African American communities. "The tribes never have to give me a penny. I would stand on that until the day I die," she said.

About the writer:

• Call Shane Goldmacher, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5544.