Bay Area Reporter - Friday, April 16, 1999
Mike Salinas

Addressed "Dear friend," and purportedly signed by SFAF Executive Director Pat Christen, the two-page letter announced sweeping changes to most of the policies that have frustrated AIDS activists as the foundation grew over the last two decades from a grassroots organization to an $18 million behemoth.

The letter began by announcing the creation of a "subsidies fund" that would disburse cash grants to foundation clients, a fund allegedly made possible by using "our $3 million in the bank, slashing expense accounts, and reducing financial compensation for the agency's executives."

The letter then went on to address that compensation, SFAF detractors' most common complaint. It promised that all executives at the foundation would limit their salaries to $90,000 per year, and those currently making more than that amount would submit to a pay cut, a move that would reduce SFAF's expenditures by more than $150,000 each year. (Next month the foundation will release its most recent financial forms - for the 1997-98 fiscal year, not this year - so current figures are not available, but based on 1996 salaries, a salary cap on just four of the better-compensated executives would save $85,957. If Christen accepted the salary cap, it would save another $85,000.)

Christen revealed her current salary of $175,000, not including benefits and bonuses, when she went public with news of the fraudulent letter the next day. In a memo sent to likely recipients, she referred to herself in the third person, but was unapologetic, in stating "the executive director's total compensation [was in 1996-97] $176,742 (salary, benefits, and bonus). The executive director's current salary is $175,000, which will be reflected in the [IRS reporting form] for 1999." In contrast to the prank letter's declaration that "I am here to fight AIDS, not get rich," Christen's response stated "the foundation's philosophy for compensation is to maintain the most skilled and competent workforce at all levels of the organization to carry out our mission. This approach has provided a high caliber, stable workforce that is essential in maintaining quality services and advocacy for people affected by HIV/AIDS."

Despite Christen's assertion, the workforce at the foundation has been markedly less stable in recent months, with turnovers in virtually every staff department over the last year. In fact, SFAF is now fighting off about a dozen employment-related complaints, filed through a variety of channels. [See story, front page.]

Christen's response also rebutted the "misinformed, unethical, and illegal" hoax letter's claims that SFAF would form a "client council to better advise the board on the needs of PWAs," change "the way profits from our San Francisco AIDS Walk are allocated," and implement a policy requiring that 80 percent of board members and senior managers must be HIV-positive. (The prank letter noted, correctly, that less than half the current board members are people with AIDS and "not a single top executive is HIV-positive.")

So far the identity of the letter's author remains a mystery, and Christen reportedly has said the foundation will not attempt to determine who is responsible. The activist community, however, is consumed by the same question, with dozens of likely authors under suspicion. Although Christen stated she is "saddened by the need to take time and energy away from our work to respond" to the letter, her detractors say it is good for her to be reminded of their concerns.
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