AIDS Care Director Asked to Step Down

The executive director of AIDS Care was asked to leave his job after only three months due to “negative feedback from the community” and his inability to raise money for the nonprofit agency that supports area residents with AIDS or HIV, a board member said Monday.

Clifton Justice, 38, was asked to resign at the end of his three-month probation period because the seven-member board had major problems with his performance, board member Janet Nichol said.

“He agreed that it would be best for the organization if he left,” Nichol said. “There were some good things he had done, but he did have trouble getting going raising money and interfacing with other agencies in the county. We were getting some negative feedback from the community.”

But Justice, who left his job Friday, said he was fired because of “personality conflicts.”

“They really didn’t give me a reason,” he said. “They said, ‘It’s just not going to work out.’ I don’t have another job, but I’m really glad I don’t work there anymore.”

Justice said three months is too short a time to expect major fund-raising activities, and criticized the agency for being sloppy and disorganized.

“When I walked in, they had no idea what they had in the bank; they had numerous bills that were more than 90 days due,” Justice said. “When I left on Friday, they had money in the bank and every bill paid.”

Nichol said the board is looking for a replacement, but does not expect his departure to cause problems for AIDS Care operations.

Justice, who earned $32,000 a year, went to work for AIDS Care on Jan. 17, after he moved from Tulsa, Okla. Board members chose Justice, who was a theatrical director and fine arts administrator, for his fund-raising abilities.

He was hired to replace Edie Brown, who stepped down in the fall because she said she was unable to raise the funds the organization needed. Last year, the agency’s budget was $300,000.