Petrelis Files

Griffin's Pay Still Unknown;
HRC Quietly Posts 3 Years' IRS 990s

The Human Rights Campaign may have 150 employees and a $40 million-plus annual budget, but they can't afford to reply to my easy questions last Friday to executive director Chad Griffin about fiscal transparency matters. Sure, HRC deputy Fred Sainz emailed a few vague promises of a substantive reply, but he hasn't keep his word.

Today, HRC has quietly granted some of my requests. I asked them to post nine years' of IRS 990s, just as PFLAG and the San Francisco LGBT Community Center do, and to clearly label them 990s. At their Annual Reports page, HRC has published IRS 990s for three years for themselves and the HRC Foundation.

While it's disappointing HRC is not yet in league with PFLAG and the SF center regarding fiscal transparency, today's development is a small step in the right direction.

Yes, there's a new boss at HRC but in terms of dealing with their critics in a respectful and fruitful manner the operative mode is still SOS - same old shit. Joe Solmonese may be gone but the lack of grassroots engagement and elitism, and devotion to never giving the appearance that activists have persuaded HRC to make a change, remain as strong as ever.

Unfortunately, my other questions regarding posting the latest IRS 990 that will be filed with the federal government before the month of August is over, Griffin's compensation and whether he'll hold a public forum in San Francisco still have not been addressed by Griffin or any one of his 150 staffers.

What is Griffin's salary and why is HRC so reluctant to release that info?