Friction with board causes 2nd change at agency in 3 years

07:22 PM CST on Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Associated Press

NEW YORK – American Red Cross President Marsha Evans announced her resignation Tuesday because of friction with the board of governors, shortly before witnesses at a congressional hearing assailed the charity's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Red Cross spokesman Charles Connor said the board was not unhappy with Ms. Evans' handling of the hurricane crisis "but had concerns about her management approach and coordination and communication with the board."

It was the second time in three years that feuding led to a leadership change.

Jack McGuire, executive vice president of the charity's Biomedical Services, was named to serve as interim president while a search for Ms. Evans' permanent successor is conducted.

A former Navy rear admiral who previously ran the Girl Scouts of the USA, Ms. Evans took over at the Red Cross in August 2002 as the organization was shaking off criticism of how it handled donations sent in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Ms. Evans' predecessor, Dr. Bernadine Healy, said she was forced to resign after two years on the job partly because of disagreements with the board over whether money coming in after Sept. 11 should be placed in a separate fund or a general disaster fund. Some donors were upset that $200 million was set aside for future terrorist incidents.

Dr. Healy noted that the Red Cross is chartered by Congress and that the U.S. president is its honorary chairman.

"The only people who can fix it are at that level," she said.

After the Sept. 11 donation dispute, the Red Cross promised greater accountability. But the unprecedented challenges posed by this year's hurricanes raised new problems.

Critics said the Red Cross failed to respond quickly enough in some low-income, minority areas; others faulted it for balking at cooperation with local grass-roots organizations even as it collected the bulk of hurricane relief funds – more than $1.8 billion to date.

On the positive side, the Red Cross mobilized about 220,000 volunteers in response to the hurricanes and accommodated hundreds of thousands of evacuees in shelters.