he head of the United Way of America, the umbrella organization for the nation's 1,400 United Way affiliates, called yesterday for the resignation or ouster of the head of the troubled United Way in the Washington area and his management team.
Brian Gallagher, the president and chief executive of the national organization, said the core management of the United Way of the National Capital Area, including its president, Norman O. Taylor, should step down or be removed by its board because accusations of financial mismanagement, excessive compensation and impeding oversight were threatening the organization's beneficiaries.
"It's my sense right now that there really is a risk that people in the greater Washington area are not getting the services they need because this management team, and potentially the organization itself, has lost the trust and confidence of the community," Mr. Gallagher said in a telephone interview.
The Washington organization is under investigation by a federal grand jury. In a meeting three weeks ago the national organization's council, comprising 60 United Way executives from around the country, discussed fears that the United Way of America itself could come under federal scrutiny because of the upheaval in Washington.
Former board members have accused the Washington organization of inflating its accounts, withholding more than $1 million that should have gone to charities, deducting as much as 45 percent of some contributions to cover overhead, and striking a sweetheart consulting deal with Mr. Taylor's predecessor, Oral Suer.
Mr. Gallagher said those accusations had the potential to taint the United Way nationally.
"People around the country don't necessarily separate United Ways," Mr. Gallagher said. "Our brand is so interdependent and connected across the country that this does have a potential ripple effect."
Separately, 38 human services agencies that are part of a coalition in Northern Virginia wrote to A. Neil Barkus, president of the board of the United Way of the National Capital Area, demanding the removal of senior management and a delay in a recent decision to close two regional offices whose managers were critical of Mr. Taylor and his team.
The Washington United Way's board met yesterday for nearly three hours, and voted to meet on Sept. 5 to consider a reorganization based on the recommendations of former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, who is reviewing the organization and its operations.
After that meeting, the board asked Mr. Taylor and all other staff members to leave, and then held an executive session that ended this evening with a decision to hold another meeting on Sept. 15.
In a statement, Mr. Barkus said that there had been a discussion of the current management and that the board decided to wait for the results of Mr. Slater's review.
"I believe Norman Taylor is dedicated to rebuilding the United Way," Mr. Barkus said, "and I understand the concerns that have been raised — these are challenging times. But I am convinced that, given some more time, we will emerge an even stronger organization."
In a separate statement, Mr. Taylor said, "I sincerely understand the concerns and frustrations raised by my colleagues and everyone associated with the United Way."
Communication between Mr. Taylor and the board appears to be breaking down. In an interview last week, Mr. Barkus acknowledged that Mr. Taylor had waited five days before telling him that the Washington Redskins football team had decided not to participate in an annual work project. The Washington organization considers its relationship with the Redskins crucial to its fund-raising, just as the support of the National Football League is considered critical to the United Way nationally.
Mr. Barkus could not be reached for comment today, but two people who attended the regular board meeting said he never mentioned that Mr. Gallagher had called for Mr. Taylor to leave. Rather, they said, Mr. Barkus presented an offer from the United Way of America to act as a custodian for money raised by area companies that had expressed reluctance to send money to the Washington United Way.
During the executive session, Mr. Barkus did reveal that Mr. Taylor's ouster was being sought by Mr. Ggallagher, two people familiar with the discussion said.
Mr. Taylor has hired a New York lawyer, Harry Weintraub, to represent him. In a brief phone interview, Mr. Weintraub suggested yesterday that Mr. Gallagher was alone in his call for Mr. Taylor's departure.
"Does he speak for the entire national organization?" Mr. Weintraub said. "I don't think so."
Mr. Gallagher said he had offered to provide the Washington United Way with an interim management team to get it through the fall fund-raising campaign.
United Ways are independent operations that set their own policies and handle their finances. The national organization typically offers support services like advertising and marketing and guidelines for behavior. But the United Way of America wields one powerful cudgel: It can revoke a local affiliate's right to use the United Way name, which is tantamount to a death sentence.
Mr. Gallagher himself could not revoke the name. Doing so requires a vote of the national organization's committee on standards that in turn must be voted on by the executive committee.
"I'm not saying for a minute that I can dictate to this local board," Mr. Gallagher said, "but it needs to understand what my position is."