SENT BY: COMMISSION ON AIDS wr July 29, 1992 MEMORANDUM TO: All Commissioners FROM: Harlon Dalton RE: Background Information on Ceammunities of Color Report In reflecting on our recent Giscussion of the Executive Director's practice of using consultants to supplant our paid staff, it occurred to ma to share with you 2 Memorandum 1 gent Roy saven months ago. It reflects my concern not Only over the Overuse of consultants, but also my exporiance of being ignored, marginalizad, and treated with less than the reapect that I think w@ are all due. Looking back, I realize that my interactions with Roy around the Communities of Color report contributed greatly to my anotional withdrawal from the work of the Commis-~ sion over the past several months. when I faxed the enclosed to Roy last December, I did not "copy" June ox anyone else, since I thought it was fair ta give Roy an opportunity to redeem himself. He has not, in my view, | done soa, As for the report itself, I remain very much committed to preducing something of qualitptnat resonates with the communi-~- ties to whom, about whom, and for whom we speak, I am not interested in producing something that could ay easily have come from the Institute of Medicine, {! cringed when Roy revealed at our last meeting that hoe intended to engage yet another censul- > 7-29-92 + 2:12PM ; 7313 7635455 ie 2/5 SENT BY: COMMISSION ON AIDS ; 7-29-92 3 2:12PM ; 9313 7635455 1# 3/5 ~ ~ . ° ) tant/editor for the report, We don't need another layar, another person known to and accountable solely to the Executive Director, another mystery pergzon who has no idea (save through Roy) of how the Commissioners envision the report. Roy's stated justification for keeping Karen Porter on staff was 50 that she could work on this repart. So why do we continue to toss money around? Karen, working with Eunice, Vince, myself, and any other interested Commissioners can finish this réport by September. If we need expart outside help, If am sure that one or more of the consultants who have already participated in the process would be willing to ‘Lend a helping hand, gratis. If editing help is needed, we showld rely upon current or racently terminated Commission staff. We ought not be « hiring hall for consultants with whom the Executive Director has worked in the past. I eacpecially resant the Communities of Color report being used in this fashion, particularly when the result tg a loss of focus, a ¢ciasipation of energias, and a dioanpowering of the Commissionars and staff who are most deeply committed to the igsues the report should highlight, ~ SENT BY: COMMISSION ON AIDS + 7-28-92 + 2:13PM ; 7-313 7635455 ~ 1 4/5 Dacember 27, 1991 MEMORANDUM TO: Roy Widdus FROM: Harlon &. Dalton RE: Forthconing Commision Report on Communities of Color In a conversation earlier thie morning, I asked Karen Porter ta convey to you my pique regarding the aver-shifting process for producing the Communities of Color report, my gande that things have gotten quite out of hand, and oy annoyance (to put it mildly) that I keep hearing about your proposed changes third- hand or by serendipity, after they already have been set in motion. it asked her to inform you that 1 do not wish to be associated with the report in any way until and unless you and I come to gome mutual understanding regardiny both the substance of the report and the procesa by which it is to come into being. Upon reflection, I raalize now unfair it is to put Karen in that position. Indesad, since one of my concerns is that you have used har (and others) to carry your water, 1 ought not compound the error. Hence, I am writing to you dizaectly. To coma straight to the point, given my past involvement in the issue of AIDS in communities of color, and more importantly my role in pughing the Commisaion to hold hearings dedicated to the igsue, I should think that as a matter of common courtesy you would {involve me in planning the report. At a minimum, I shoulda think you would find it politic to inform ma of significant decisions that you have made. Were thig a report on public health issues or on the role of community-based organizaticne, 1 cannot imagine that you would treat Charlie or Larry as cavalier- ly as I have been treated. Moreover, this ts not merely an area in which I have axprensed interest, invaated time, and pressed for action. I agreed soma time ago to be actively involved in framing and drafting the report. Indeed, my initial understand- ing waa that June and I, between us, would write the report, and that wa would utilize three consultants as & sounding board. Somewhere along the line, you and/or Jeff seam to have decided that the process should be radically altered. Parhape, but I do not believe that it is your decision to make alona, and it is certainly not yours to make without at leagt the appearance of consulting -°:. Again, I cannot imagine that you would hava related to au, other Commiasioner in this way. — Let me give you Just one example of what I mean by a vadi-~ cally altered process. As I mantioned aarlier, my initial undarstanding was that a small number of consultants would be SENT BY: COMMISSION ON AIDS ; 7-28-82 ; 2:13PM ; 9313 7635455 1# Sf 5. .- co j 9/2? Ct, a utilized as sounding boards when June and I reached a point that we thought such help was appropriate. 1 subsequently heard, nth- hand, that you were planning to use consultants to write portions of the report. I then heard that you were Planning to engaga a héw set of consultants, different from and in addition to the | ones engaged by June. I[ gather the plan is to use one set of consultants to write and another set to reflect. This strikes me a6 needlesealy cumbarsome, inaffictoent, and virtually guaranteed to raise expectations beyond our (or anyone's) capacity to deliv- @r. Moreover, I don't understand how this two-layered consultant arrangement ts to mesh with the third layer of Commission staff, several of whom have also, I gather, bean asked to work on sections of the report. Finally, I don't understand how Dawn Smith fits into all of this. When I walked into the hearing room for our December meeting, a amiling young woman walked up to me, stuck out her hand, and said: "Hi, I'm Dawn Smith. It's nice to finally meet you.” Fortunately, I was able to dredge up from the racasses of my Overloaded brain who she was -~ a voice at the other end of a telephone regarding a confarence that never came off. Since I associated her with the University of Michigan, I quite naturally esked her what brought her to Washington. “I've baen hired by Roy to write the Comnunities of Color report,” she replied. “That's nawa to me," I exclaimed, once I was able to lift my jaw off the ground. Roy, this ia simply no way to conduct business, It ig unprofessional and demeaning. I'm worry ta be go blunt, but my irritation has been building over several months. I hava spoken to Jeff about this, but to no apparent avail. 1 held my tengue at the Decambar meeting os you presented a fantasyland account of the report's progress because I thought it inappropriate to raise my concerns before the full Commission without first airing then with you. 1 guess I hoped you would tron things out. Instead, the confusion and indiraction Simply multiplies. The last straw was when I receivad a telephone call asking me to come to Wash- ington the waek befora Christmas to “moet with the consultants," About what? Who are they? What havea they baan told about the report? What do they understand to be their role? Why should we meat now, rather than further along in the process? These and a Million other questions came to mind. Tf am sorry, but I can't ba part of somathing I don't even understand! Nor do I much appra- clate being treated as an afterthought. * I will be mostly unreachable until the Let of January. Thereafter, I would appreciata hearing fron you.