SAG's Napier opts to stay
Board member pushing further look into election results
Napier, chairman of the committee set to oversee next week's vote on a merger with the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, said he still had severe misgivings over the national board's decision a week ago to, as he put it, "sweep under the rug" a report by a special investigator that found there probably was intentional wrongdoing during a national executive committee election on Nov. 16.
"I suppose it was an untenable situation for the executives," Napier said Thursday, referring to guild leaders who elected not to probe the matter further by voting 55-30 to set aside California State Supreme Court Judge Joseph Grodin's report. "I guess they thought, 'Well, it's getting out of hand -- let's let the whole thing go away.' "
Napier, who is SAG's third national vice president, believes that without further investigation into the election miscount, "the honesty of all persons involved remains tainted."
"The decision by the Screen Actors Guild to absolve all parties leaves legitimate doubt open to our members regarding the actions of any persons involved in any way in this sordid business," said Napier, one of the board members on a tellers' committee that conducted a second count of ballots Nov. 16 after the results of a count by three SAG staffers were questioned.
The second count -- supervised by Masur -- came up with totals dramatically different from those of the first, and it was the first tellers who were the focus of Grodin's conclusion of probable wrongdoing.
But Napier said there had been "unsubstantiated allegations" by other board members about the actions of the second tellers' committee, despite the "immediate acceptance" by guild attorneys of their count as officially binding. The allegations, he said, had deeply hurt him.
Now, Napier has concluded that Masur "has absolute confidence in my honesty and integrity and, by implication, in the integrity of all board members involved in the second tally."
Reached late Thursday, Masur said he had "never questioned Paul's integrity or that of any of the participants, staff or members in the national executive committee election matter, and through its recent action, the national board has taken the same position."
Masur pointed to the board's resolution, which said Grodin "did not find clear fault by any of the participants" in the election. However, Masur said that "any investigation of that election had to include everyone involved, so that it would be fair."
