California NAACP leader to step down amid conflict-of-interest allegations
The longtime leader of California’s NAACP will step down next month, which comes after the towering figure once again faced conflict-of-interest allegations involving her political consulting company’s work in this year’s election cycle.
Alice Huffman, who has held the position for nearly 20 years, will end her tenure Dec. 1, cited health issues in a resignation letter to the executive board of the California Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Murmurs from non-profit organizations have alluded to another reason in which Huffman, 84, has decided to step down.
Over the course of this year’s election, campaigns for and against several contentious ballot measures — such as ending cash ball or making it easier for cities to pass rent control — paid Huffman’s consulting firm about $1.7 million, as first reported by CalMatters. Critics accused Huffman, and at time the NAACP, of throwing their weight towards campaigns that run counter to the organization’s mission.
“I knew from 2016 that Ms. Huffman did not support a lot of propositions that were made to help Black people. It was odd to me because she didn’t go against the propositions as ‘Alice Huffman’, she went against them as the president of the NAACP” Taisha Brown, the chair of the California Democratic Party Black Caucus, told the Sacramento Bee.
A high school dropout who rose through political ranks, Huffman has become an established and high-profile figure in Democratic and civil rights circles. Huffman was one of several leaders to demand an investigation into the police killing of Stephon Clark in 2018.
At the same time, Huffman and her consulting firm AC Public Affairs, Inc. have become particularly sought during election season.
For example, the campaign against Proposition 15 paid AC Public Affairs $740,000. That measure, which would’ve raised taxes on certain business properties to boost funding for schools and local services, was rejected by voters in November.
Even before this year’s NAACP’s endorsements, Huffman has been regularly accused of leveraging her position to line her pockets.
“Among the political class in Sacramento, it’s very well known that Alice essentially applies the NAACP good housekeeping seal to special interest causes in return for money,” Garry South, a Democratic consultant, told The Bee in 2016. “I don’t know how she gets away with it.”
Taisha Brown, among others, held press conferences in Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego regarding Huffman’s practices and the false information she was providing. Ultimately, they requested that she step down. The California Democratic Party had a caucus meeting last Thursday regarding the allegations made against Huffman.
“We’ve made it clear, as Black people we are not going to stand by and let anyone [not Black people, not white people, not Latino people, not Asian people] forget about us,” said Brown. “We need a seat at every single table and we need Black leaders that will fight and stand with us as Black people. We have Black leaders that are bowing down to people who do not have our best interest at heart.”
Rick Callender, the vice president the California and Hawaii State Conference NAACP and CEO of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, has been appointed to fill Huffman’s position when her term expires.
“Huffman has been one of the strongest NAACP leaders in the country and has truly accomplished a lot for African Americans and people of color in California, Hawaii, and across the nation,” Callender said in a statement to The Sacramento Observer. “She leaves very big shoes to fill.”
Huffman will continue to lead AC Public Affairs and remain on the national NAACP board, the Los Angeles Times reported.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 4:09 PM.