Letter to the Editor: Save Seattle's Central Area Motivation Program

To: The African American Community, Communities of Color, Faith Community, and Progressive Community

The Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP) was formed as a direct result of the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that was the vehicle for "Black Americans" to gain equality in education, employment, and social justice. Over the years CAMP was an agency that provided these services to African Americans and others in need, and advocated for change for the poor and disenfranchised. The staff has always been multi-ethnic and the programs served diverse communities.

We are encouraging you to come and support the retention of CAMP at its present location with a new board of directors and executive director on Monday, May 20, 2013 at 2 p.m. at the Seattle City Council.

1) It is reported that the executive director and the energy director make over $200,000.00 a year, (executive $110,000.00  and the energy director $90,000.00) to manage one program, the Energy Program.

2) All African American employees and contractors who were on staff and under contract  prior to the arrival of the executive director have been terminated, including the person that trained the current energy director. A receptionist was terminated while she was ill and then had her health insurance canceled by the executive director.

3) Where is the 1.8 Million Dollars that CAMP received for the sale of the property at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South Jackson Street to the City of Seattle? It's now Fire Station 6. The building had housed CAMP Contractor's Resource Center and later the Emergency Feeding Program.

4) It is reported that several million dollars has been returned to the U.S. Department of Energy over the last three years and not used to assist African Americans and other families in need of energy assistance during the winter and cold periods.

5) The Board of Directors and the executive director removed "serving the African American Community" from the mission statement.

We need all of the progressive minded people of Seattle and Martin Luther King Jr. County to come down to the Seattle City Council meeting at 2:00 PM Monday. We will appeal to the Seattle City Council and the Mayor for fairness, inclusion, and respect for an African American Institution in the "Gentrified" Central Area, particularly institutions (CAMP) that came about as a result of the 1964 Civil Rights Act after Blacks endured 244 years of Slavery and 101 years of Legal Segregation.

We have submitted years of board meeting minutes and other documents to an attorney to determine if there were violations of the Articles and Bylaws by the Board of Directors. We will publicize who did what, and who on the Board of Directors decided to stop serving the Black Community.

The note below and the attached letter are recommendations of former CAMP staffers.

This letter was sent to the entire Seattle City Council.  We want you to know what they received, so you won't be going into the meeting blind.

Hopefully, this letter will help you in your meeting with the Council.  The key point of the letter is the last line---"The residents of Seattle-King county want our elected officials to support and initiate an independent, fair, transparent 3rd party fiscal audit on Centerstone (CAMP)" 

Eddie Rye, CAMP Supporter