Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
 |
San Francisco Examiner - June 19, 2002
Michael Stoll, Of The Examiner Staff
Pat Christen, executive director, is taking a 12 percent pay cut. She has attracted attention for years in the nonprofit community for the size of her salary, which rose to $207,032 last year.
Other senior managers will get a 10 percent salary cut and remaining employees' salaries will be frozen.
Twenty-eight of the organization's more than 100 workers will lose their jobs by the end of this month, although some will stay on during the restructuring through the end of the year.
The foundation said its income this year fell $2.5 million short of its $20.7 million budget.
Management blames the downturn in the economy and the "post-9/11 environment" for its falling revenues, but stressed that the fund-raising shortfalls were temporary.The foundation severed its relationship this year with Pallotta TeamWorks, which ran the California AIDS Ride, and started its own event, AIDS LifeCycle. The foundation expects the bicycle tour to do better next year.
Christen said in a terse press release that the foundation hopes to preserve "core client services," such as advocacy, benefits counseling, needle exchange and treatment education, and that no clients will lose their housing vouchers.
Last week, after The Examiner published a cover story on Christen's salary increase last year, a spokesman for the organization, Gustavo Suarez, said massive cuts were planned, but refused share the details.
dSuarez did not return repeated calls to his office on Tuesday. A source within the organization said much of the day was taken up by meetings with the staff. Other AIDS organizations this month announced layoffs and salary cuts citing the same reasons. They included Project Open Hand, which provides free meals and groceries to people with AIDS, and the UCSF AIDS Health Project.
The salaries of Christen and her top five managers, including a benefits package worth $14,256, totaled just over $1 million. The foundation received harsh criticism from activists and the Bay Area Reporter, a gay newspaper. Other activists and nonprofit managers said the foundation was the most responsible AIDS organization in The City and that Christen deserved the money.
E-mail: mstoll@sfexaminer.com
020619
SE020602
Copyright © 2002 - San Francisco Examiner. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the San Francisco Examiner, Permissions Desk, 110 Fifth Street, P.O. Box 7260, San Franciso, CA 94120.
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, iMetrikus, Inc., John M. Lloyd Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2002. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2002. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .