Cawthorne Asks for Mediator to Settle Dispute : Urban League: The group’s former leader wants to settle claims that he misappropriated funds from the organization out of court.

Herb Cawthorne, conceding he was guilty of some “mistakes” and “poor judgments” while president of the San Diego Urban League, called Wednesday for a mediator to settle the bitter financial and personal dispute over his alleged misappropriation of more than $13,000 of the agency’s money.

Breaking 10 months of silence on the reason for his abrupt June 7 resignation from his prominent black leadership post, Cawthorne refused to specifically answer charges made in an Urban League lawsuit filed last week.

But he contended that the black service organization actually owes him two months’ pay. He said the agency accepted his resignation--effective immediately--rather than waiting for a 60-day period that Cawthorne claimed was part of his contract with the Urban League.

Cawthorne, speaking in a calm, composed tone at a news conference, proposed that he and the agency’s board of directors pay off debts to each other by performing community service.

He said mediation would allow for settlement of the dispute, which could provide an example to youngsters in the community.

“The Urban League will not have to do a drive-by shooting on Herb Cawthorne and, in response, Herb Cawthorne will not have to do a drive-by shooting on the Urban League,” he said.

The suggestions clearly irritated Urban League attorney Beatrice Kemp, who called the mediation proposal a “red herring” and a “smoke screen” raised by Cawthorne after 10 months of refusing to negotiate.

“Do you know how many times we tried to get (Cawthorne and his attorney) to negotiate?” Kemp asked. “We made all the moves and efforts toward trying to resolve this, and we got no cooperation and no resolution.”

The Urban League set up a meeting with Cawthorne just days after his resignation, has sent at least two letters to his attorney, Robert Baxley, and made many telephone calls to Baxley--the last one April 2, Kemp said. But all but one of their overtures went unanswered.

Urban League Vice Chairman Carol Hallstrom said the agency owes Cawthorne nothing because he resigned, effective immediately, when he faced the board of directors in a special meeting June 7.

“Herb made his resignation effective immediately,” Hallstrom said. “It is my understanding that no monies are owed.”

In a related matter, Cawthorne’s current employer, the Black Federation of San Diego, filed for protection Tuesday under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy laws Tuesday to stave off foreclosure on two parcels of property scheduled for the same day.

Attorney Tom Gorrill, who represents the federation, said that the move became necessary when the agency no longer could make payments on first and second trust deeds on the properties and was faced with losing the battered women’s shelter at 2491 Island Ave. and single-family residence at 4448 Tremont St.

The agency’s financial downturn came after President Vernon Sukumu’s decision in December to borrow about $24,000 from a woman named Glenda Meyers at 64.245% interest to help with payments, Gorrill said.

The agency has other debts, including $10,679 to the Omni Hotel and $1,837 to API Alarm Systems, Gorrill said.

The Urban League sued Cawthorne on Friday, seeking more than $25,000 in repayment for the more than $13,000 it claims he misappropriated, and the cost of auditing Cawthorne’s financial records. Cawthorne, one of the city’s most visible and charismatic black leaders, suddenly quit last June when presented with an internal audit that raised questions about some of the expenditures, Urban League board members have said.

The lawsuit accuses Cawthorne of spending Urban League money on airline tickets, hotels, meals, auto expenses, dental work and a $1,395 piece of artwork that he billed as “training materials.” The black service organization also charged Cawthorne with giving away at least one of two 1988 Super Bowl tickets purchased with $2,400 of the organization’s funds.

Cawthorne directly addressed only the Super Bowl ticket issue Wednesday. He said the tickets were purchased by the Urban League from someone who won them in a lottery to bring talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey to San Diego for a fund-raising dinner and the Super Bowl. But, when those plans collapsed, efforts to resell the tickets failed in the following days, he said.

Unable to sell the tickets, Cawthorne said he gave them to Sukumu, president of the Black Federation, where Cawthorne is now chief executive officer.

Sukumu confirmed receiving the tickets on the morning of the Jan. 31 Super Bowl, but said he could not attend the game and gave them to a friend from Denver. He said that he did not know that they were purchased with Urban League money.

Cawthorne declined to discuss the artwork purchase or other charges that he collected travel expenses from the Urban League on top of reimbursements from third parties.

“There are elements in the charges that I believe can be explained, and I believe will be understood,” Cawthorne said. “I’ll be quite frank with you, there are other elements in there where I believe I made poor judgments.”

Cawthorne specifically proposed using Community Mediation of San Diego, a 7-year-old nonprofit agency whose volunteers mediate disputes ranging from neighbor-versus-neighbor to divorces to public policy questions.

Barbara Filner, a trainer for the agency, said follow-up studies show that 86% of the parties stick to agreements hammered out with the service’s help.

Kemp and Hallstrom said the Urban League is willing to explore mediation or arbitration but want it conducted as part of the legal process they initiated. “The court has the ability and the mechanisms to designate arbitrators,” Hallstrom said.

Elaborating on some of the charges in the lawsuit, Kemp said in an interview that Cawthorne made the trips for speaking engagements in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Arizona.

She said the artwork was purchased from Up Against the Wall, the framing department of the Denise Amato Gallerie in Portland, Ore. Cawthorne headed that city’s Urban League before coming to San Diego in 1987.

Contacted in Portland, Amato refused to confirm the lawsuit’s allegation that Cawthorne sent her two Urban League checks totaling $1,395 on Feb. 6, 1989 and March 21, 1989 to pay for the artwork, which Urban League officials contend they have never seen.

“That is Mr. Cawthorne’s business and the Urban League’s business, and neither one of those people have contacted me to give out that information,” Amato said.

She described Cawthorne as a “long-term client” during his days in Portland.