LV Chapter NAACP officers suspended

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 1998 | 1:30 a.m.

Leaders of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have 30 days to respond to a suspension notice delivered on Tuesday.

Officers and members of the executive committee were suspended for failing to submit the chapter's financial statement for 1996.

Edward Lewis, president of the Tri-State Conference, said Wednesday that NAACP members decided to penalize the Las Vegas chapter during the National Board of Directors convention in Atlanta in July.

"Instead of closing the chapter and hurting the community, this was the action elected to be put in place," Lewis said.

Las Vegas officers, including president the Rev. James Rogers, were suspended until their terms end in November. Lewis said the only way they can be reinstated is if they win their seats back in the upcoming chapter election.

Local leaders insist they turned in the annual report, but Lewis said if that is true, the chapter should have been able to come up with a copy quickly.

"They could have dug up a copy of it and faxed it in, but that has not happened," Lewis said from his Salt Lake City office. "If they filed it, it can easily be cleared up. My suspicions are that if that was the case, it would have been turned in a long time ago."

Lewis, who oversees chapters in Utah, Nevada and California, said he will assemble a three-person committee to help operate the Las Vegas chapter until an election is held.

The committee, which will include a board member from the Salt Lake City office and a finance expert, will meet with members of the Las Vegas NCAAP to collect nominations for the chapter's office.

The recent shake-up may push the election back to December.

Lewis also questioned the tactics of those who have announced their intention to run for the chapter presidency. He said there is a certain time period in which people can announce their intention to run for office and that isn't until September.

"You have groups out there vying for office and campaigning," Lewis said. "The complications are that some of those people are part of the administration that is part of the problem."

Lewis said while there has been a high turnover rate at the Las Vegas chapter's treasurer position, his office has never conducted a financial review and has not heard of any past problems at the office.