Parker has run United Way since '76
Sarah Prall / Staff
United Way President Ed Parker, left, with National Bank of Arizona's Rick Krivel, immediate past chair of the board.
By Carol Ann Alaimo
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
He's one of the longest-serving United Way presidents in America, a man who's regarded with near awe by many of the folks who have volunteered their time and money to Tucson's United Way.
Even some of the people who've had problems with Ed Parker will tell you he's a hard guy not to like.
"Frankly, Ed is a great treasure for our community," said Parker fan Rick Krivel, a National Bank of Arizona executive and immediate past chair of the local United Way board.
"He's been a tremendous force in the community and has provided leadership beyond question," Krivel said at a recent board meeting where Parker was honored for his 25 years of service to the agency.
Parker, 54, who was paid just over $136,000 in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2000, has been at the local United Way since 1976.
A former teacher, Parker spent a brief stint at the United Way in Rochester, N.Y., before moving to Tucson as a newlywed to accept a job as local campaign director. Two years later, he was hired to fill the job he has held ever since.
Jim Click, head of the local car dealership empire that's been one of United Way's strongest financial supporters, describes Parker as a dedicated community leader.
"He's always been enthusiastic and sincere. I think he cares about the community," Click said.
Joe Pennington, a Tucson financial adviser who was United Way's volunteer treasurer from 1993 to 1996 and sometimes butted heads with Parker, used words like "charming" and "personable" to describe him.
"I don't dislike Ed. He's a likable guy, very bright and articulate," said Pennington.
When Parker speaks in public, people often seem mesmerized by his folksy manner and way with words, said Pennington, who is also the Pima County chairman for the Republican Party and is a member of the same local Rotary Club as Parker.
But Pennington also was not surprised to hear of Parker's current troubles with member agencies and concerns about inadequate public disclosure.
He said United Way's president is a top-down leader who found it hard to compromise and sometimes was not above stonewalling the board of directors to get his own way.
"If the president did not want something to go forward, he would staff it to death," said Pennington, who said it once took two years for United Way's board to change the agency's pension plan because Parker was not in favor of the move.
"We would have meeting after meeting and not a lot would get done from one month to the next."
Pennington also saw a tendency toward spin-doctoring at United Way headquarters.
"There was always the effort to put the best face on anything and to spin any activity to where it always made the United Way look better," Pennington said.
He also said Parker had an inability to be inclusive. "You either agree with where he's going or you get passed by."
Parker called Pennington's comments about the pension change "very unfair." He said he urged the board to take its time on that issue only because of concerns about how staffers would be affected.
Parker said while he tries to be positive, he does not misrepresent facts. And he said he's flexible about changing his mind if someone can make a good case to him.
Michael Hard, a local Bank One executive who was a United Way board member from 1993 to 1996, said he noticed United Way was reluctant to release information if it wasn't flattering to the agency.
For example, Hard said, United Way was not candid about the shrinking supply of money for member agencies.
"I think the public always assumed because of the way information was provided each year that everything was fine," said Hard, who is Tucson's Man of the Year for 2001.
"I really honestly believe that United Way should have been more forthcoming about how much they have at their discretion to disburse in the community."
Parker said he's tried to do a good job for the last quarter-century and hopes to keep doing so.
"I've worked hard here for this community to stay that long - and hopefully longer if the leadership is welcome and it goes well.
"If not, then I'd feel sad about that and I'd have to try something else, I guess."
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