Larry is well known as a party person wherever he goes. In his life he has had a lot of interesting acquaintances. One of his friends was the (then) Commissioner of the Alaska Dept of Environmental Conservation. They had a lengthy relationship that "ended" in 2003.
In 2003 the Commissioner of the Alaska D.E.C. accepted a job as President of the United Way of Anchorage.
In early 2007 Larry found himself in Anchorage and in need of a job. He spoke to his old friend and she arranged a job with the Salvation Army. The United Way is one of the Salvation Army's top funding sources.
Larry had two "barrier conditions" that normally would have prevented his being hired by the Salvation Army. As it turns out, everything went smoothly. The Salvation Army took care of paper problems that prevented the hire, and Larry got the job.
Everything seemed to be going well. The President of the Anchorage United Way was sure that nobody indiscreet would find out about the "favor". (Most Detox employees knew about it). Larry was thriving.
Then came the squeeze.
In May 2007, Salvation Army fund-raisers approached the United Way president and reminded her of the favor. They showed her financial numbers that probably were inaccurate (Based on a comment made by someone Ms Brown talked with about the fund raising pitch). They suggested they needed more money. It took the United Way President a while to figure things out.
Only a few people know how she reacted to the evangelical shakedown.
When the next financial report comes out, we can compare this years financial gift from the United Way with last years gift, and everyone will know.
Ms Brown may have been helpful to another person in getting a job too. Like Larry, he has been very close to Ms Brown for years. Ironically, in this case the person is the recently hired State of Alaska APOC investigator. He would be responsible for investigating some of the corruption issues mentioned on this website.
Former Commissioner Brown and APOC investigator Berliner have 2 children together, both students in the lower 48.
- Nationally, the Salvation Army receives about $140 mil a year from the United Way. pdf
- In Anchorage, the Salvation Army received $742,033 from the United way for the most recent year available. pdf (20 mb PDF. Screen shot at bottom of funding page)
- A lot of that money was intended for Detox, where Larry worked.
Certain details have been left off of this page, out of respect for the people involved. Anybody who has any doubts about the authenticity of the information can send me their email, and I will provide them with the means to verify the page.
UPDATE March 5, 2008
The United Way of Anchorage's financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30 2007 is out.
You can download it here or from them here. (1.9 mb PDF)
It is a stunning piece of marketing glitz that gives no concrete financial information. At the very bottom of the last page it says:
"To view the unqualified audit report for year ending June 30, 2007, visit www.unitedwayofanchorage.org."
Fair enough. But at www.unitedwayofanchorage.org there is no "unqualified audit report" or any other financial information besides the link to this unhelpful financial report. Here is that page copied on March 5, 2008. Original url here.
The "unqualified audit report" (pdf) is on another linked page, and it is only a little more helpful than the so-called "financial report" below. Details of United Way gifts to the Salvation Army in 2007 will probably not be known until 2009 when the Salvation Army puts out another pretty chart like the one on the bottom of the funding page.
Some other details are available from places like the BBB (here) and charity navigator (here), such as the fact that well over one percent of all money donated to the Anchorage United Way goes just to pay Ms. Brown's salary. Fortunately there is still some money left over to "help kids succeed" and "promote health and self-sufficiency".
Below is the level of detail the public gets easily about their donations to the United Way.
The unqualified report and the form 990 (from '05-'06) have more info.
