An ‘Inexcusable’ Approach at Red Cross

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor:

I like that Sen. Charles Grassley is looking into ways to ensure proper board oversight of the Red Cross (“President’s Appointees Shun Red Cross Board Meetings,” March 23), and I commend Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, and her predecessor, David T. McLaughlin, for their active involvement while serving as presidentially appointed chairmen of the charity’s board.

I do, however, think that the behavior by Donna Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration who was a Red Cross board appointee, is inexcusable.

If she felt there was a conflict of interest in serving on the board, she should have removed herself from the board, not merely chosen to not attend meetings. It would have been better to give her space to a better-qualified individual, rather than continue to be absent from meetings.

But maybe she tried to do that, and was not allowed to remove herself. If that is the case, there is a lot of work to be done to straighten out matters.

Deborah Martin
Public-Information Officer
San Antonio College
San Antonio