Ex-chief of Red Cross mulls agency's woes

The American Red Cross will weather the controversial storm over Sept. 11 funds, the group's former president says.
By RON COLE
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- For nearly 39 years, Steve Bullock made the American Red Cross his life.
From his work as a caseworker on military bases in suburban Washington, D.C., in the 1960s to a brief stint as the head of the national organization in 1999, Bullock wore the Red Cross on his sleeve.
So, when a barrage of criticism about the handling of funds to help the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks befell the Red Cross, Bullock felt the pain personally.
"I have great confidence in the organization," he said. "I worked hard, along with many of my colleagues, to earn and maintain that confidence with the American public.
"I believe the strength of the organization will take it through the controversy we find ourselves in today."
Bullock, acting national president of the Red Cross after Elizabeth Dole resigned in January 1999 to run for president, is in Youngstown today to speak at Youngstown State University's fall commencement.
While he won't be talking about the turmoil at the Red Cross, the topic is never too far out of his mind.
His background: A native of North Carolina who led the Cleveland Red Cross chapter for 17 years, Bullock served as the Red Cross' acting chief from January 1999 to September 1999, when Bernadine Healey was named to the permanent post.
Healey announced her retirement in October in the wake of criticism over the handling of $543 million donated to the organization's Sept. 11 Liberty Disaster Fund.
Initial plan: The Red Cross initially planned to hold back about half of the money for future disaster relief, but now says it will use all of the funds to help victims of the terrorist and anthrax attacks.
Bullock said concerns about the Sept. 11 fund were legitimate.
"The leadership of the organization made some decisions that some of us might have questioned," he said.
But there was never any question about the way the Red Cross responded at the World Trade Center towers in New York, at the Pentagon in Washington and in Somerset County, Pa., he said.
"The Red Cross was there, was on the scene, responded and continues to respond," he said. "That's what gets it the reputation that it has. It performs."
Nevertheless, Bullock said the Red Cross should have been better prepared to handle the outpouring of support.
After earthquake: After the San Francisco earthquake in 1989, for instance, the organization received overwhelming financial support, he said.
"We had the same kind of situation; we had more funds than one would have expected in order to provide the services for the people who were affected," he said. "Those funds were left there, and they're still there."
Bullock left the Red Cross in September 2000 and formed The Bullock Group in Cleveland, a management consulting firm for nonprofit and public sector organizations.
What it does: The group provides leadership development, market planning, crisis management, fund-raising counseling and mentoring for middle managers. It works with the Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association, Greater Cleveland Roundtable and Metro Hospital.
Bullock said he and YSU President David Sweet became friends when Sweet was a dean at Cleveland State University before coming to YSU last year. They both had children in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights city schools, he said.
Sweet is to present his friend an honorary doctor of humane letters at today's commencement ceremony.
cole@vindy.com
XA complete list of YSU fall commencement graduates will appear on the Dec. 22 School Page.