San Diego-based Healthy Youth Advocacy Program (HYAP), formerly known as Positively Speaking, closed its doors on May 2 after funds reportedly showed up missing from the organization’s general fund. The Gay and Lesbian Times received an anonymous phone call at that time, alleging the organization’s founder and executive director, David Blair, had used money from grants to pay for personal expenses, leaving the organization with no funds with which to pay operating expenses, including the salaries of three paid staff members, including Blair, who was the organization’s executive director, CEO and a board member.

In the board’s April 17 meeting minutes, it states: “The Board discussed the viability of HYAP. All concurred that with a significant deficit, a potential negative impact in the community, a lack of funding opportunities, no staff, an eminent loss of office space and a huge commitment of time exceeding the Board members’ availability, HYAP was no longer a viable agency…. Heller Ehrman Attorneys will draw up a retention letter for Board approval, which reflects their willingness to contact David Blair’s attorney on the Board’s behalf.”

Founded six years ago by Blair, the nonprofit organization provided HIV education and prevention to youth from grades six through college. HIV positive speakers werepaid a small stipend ($25 per engagement) to visit schools and testify before students about their experience living with HIV.

Asked about the allegations that Blair had used HYAP’s credit card to pay for personal expenses, board member Stephen Carroll told the Times, “The board has been fully and fairly investigating everything to determine what the facts are and what to do with it. As of now, the agency is closed and David Blair resigned as executive director this past April…. I can’t confirm [anything] because of some of the legal issues that are involved, but we are getting to the point….”

“The board is very saddened about the turn of the events with Healthy Youth,” added board member Stephanie Edwards, who was asked to come onboard in February, after the alleged fraud was discovered. “It’s an excellent organization. Unfortunately, due to the mismanagement, the organization had to close.”

Besides Blair, whose annual salary was around $52,000 plus benefits, HYAP had two paid staff members, Chrisopher LaFlamme and Chris Tyson, who both made $32,500 a year.

“This was basically [the staff’s] livelihood,” said Edwards. “This was not just a job to them, this was their life’s work.

On the organization’s website, it notes that HYAP had received monies or support from Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Alliance Healthcare Foundation, the California Endowment, the City of San Diego, Kaiser Permanente, the Office of AIDS Coordination, SDG&E Corporate Contributions, San Diego City Schools, San Diego County Schools, The Dr. Seuss Foundation, Until There’s a Cure, the Wells Fargo Foundation and other agencies.

Among various allegations are that Blair used HYAP monies to benefit his home décor shop, Blair House, located at 4th and University in Hillcrest. Chief among these expenses is a three-week trip to Vietnam Blair paid for with the HYAP credit card — a trip on which he conducted business for his store.

Asked about the trip, Blair told the Times, “That was an educational expense. Speaking as the CEO or ED of the organization, any time an educational expense would arise, I authorized that, whether it was Christopher LaFlamme, Chris Tyson or myself. It was a board policy that educational expenses would be incurred by the organization.”

Asked how the trip helped educate him in a way that was beneficial to HYAP, Blair skirted around the issue. “I took a doctoral class in counseling through USD…. The course was offered as a study abroad program. Actually, I had taken another trip I think two summers ago that was conducted in Spain.” Blair said he also paid for that trip through the organization’s funds.

Asked if he conducted any business for his store while he was in Vietnam, Blair said, “Some…. Creating sources for importation. Actually, that was part of my class project.”

Blair said he took the graduate course, Global Cultural Competence, from Dec. 26 of 2002 to Jan 18 of this year. Course instructor Susan Zgliczynski confirmed with the Times that Blair had traveled with the class to Vietnam and Malaysia, completing a business related class project — though she said Blair’s was the only project that was business related.

“It had been the intention of the previous board of directors to pay off my student loans,” Blair responded. “I had incurred thousands of dollars in student loans and it was directly associated with Positively Speaking.”

“It’s really sad,” said former program manager Christopher LaFlamme. “We had a large grant through California Endowment last year for $194,000 for three years. What happened when David got that money was he just went crazy. He bought stupid things. He put in a patio. He would tint the windows at work, tint the windows at his house, tint the windows in his car and write it all off on the agency….”

Other items LaFlamme said were paid for with HYAP’s credit card included gas and a satellite stereo system for Blair’s Rolls Royce.

Regarding charges, the March 20 HYAP board meeting minutes state: “Stephen C. expressed concern that according to the Management Advisory Letter, ‘During 2002, there were over 45 debit charges posted to HYAP receivables account, apparently personal expenses made by the Executive Director.’ ... David B. stated that he had accidentally mistook the agency debit card for his own on at least five occasions, in which he was aware. In addition, David B. sated that he had not followed agency protocol regarding the use of the HYAP credit card, including submitting receipts.”

“Whenever I’d ask David for money,” recalled LaFlamme, “he’d say, ‘Well, you’ve got to tighten your belt…’ Well, I couldn’t run a program and do trainings without any money. So, I started to question things in January when I received … his statement by accident and realized that he had wrote a trip to Vietnam … off as an educational tour.”

“I founded the organization … using my own money, my own capital, my own time and resources,” said Blair. “I ran the organization for the better part of five years without any pay or compensation. When the organization needed money and I had it, I would put it in, and vice-versa. If I needed money and the organization had a balance, then I would use the money to help me out. I typically would pay the money back.”

Blair estimated that he put about $10,000 of his own money into the store initially and didn’t begin drawing a salary until last April.

Blair also had access to a Saab the company rented for him, though he said he was not using the Saab just prior to his departure from HYAP.

“I stopped using the Saab because I had purchased the Rolls Royce, but not with any money from the organization,” said Blair. “That’s utterly ridiculous. And the idea that I would have done anything to have harmed the organization is utterly ridiculous. I founded the organization; I worked the organization for six years. There would be no incentive for me to abscond with money or do any damage. It’s an organization that I considered my baby, my child.”

Blair’s attorney, Tom Molta, assured the Times their had been “complete disclosure” of Blair’s spending. “A person who is as intensely motivated to do well, as David is, … when you suddenly start to accuse this person of impropriety, I just think it really misses the mark,” said Molta.

Questioned about his understanding of HYAP’s closure and the allegations against Blair, Molta said, “There do seem to be some charges that you wouldn’t normally associate with salary. It’s a modest sum…. It’s well under five figures, somewhere in the few thousand dollars range…. All I know is that there was complete disclosure…. Whether or not, in retrospect, it was the best way to do it, maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t…. Probably it wasn’t….”

Investigations into the loss of funds that led to HYAP’s closure were ongoing at press time, including a separate investigation by the California Endowment.

As for HYAP’s programs, LaFlamme and Edwards said they are looking towards either the Center for Social Support and Education or San Diego Youth and Community Services to take them over.

“The board is definitely committed to the programs of the Healthy Youth Advocacy Program and once the investigation is done and decisions are made with legal counsel, we are going to figure out what we can do with the programs,” said Carroll. “Even though Healthy Youth is closed, the programs can keep on running because both programs, Positively Speaking and the Peer Education Empowerment Program, were really excellent programs.”