• Williams' relationship with Lewis is also viewed as problematic. Ask Houston why he resigned and he says, "It was being dominated by two people, Ed and Jeanetta. It was no longer a board. It was a very closed loop."

"Everyone was very supportive at first," says Dew. "Then she paired up with Ed Lewis and started antagonizing members of the board. She was disrespectful to Alberta and changed the direction of the NAACP from a community advocate."

Lewis, 58, was born in Mississippi and grew up in Chicago. (He describes himself as a "country boy from Chicago.") Lewis says he served six years in the Air Force as a nuclear weapons specialist, including a stint in Vietnam, and then attended college. He says he has degrees in engineering and physics and an MBA from Pepperdine. He says he is now working on a doctorate. His career brought him to Utah. (He worked for Bell Labs and Motorola, among other corporations.)

After retiring, Lewis says he became more active in the NAACP as payback for his success. He met Williams through their NAACP work.

Williams' detractors say her personal relationship is a conflict of interest. But, says Lewis, "There is no rule in the NAACP that two people who are married can't serve together. I was elected president of the tri-state area by disparate branches, not Jeanetta."

However, opponents note that all complaints about Williams and the local NAACP go to Lewis.

That includes complaints about the 2002 election. The anti-Williams' camp mounted a campaign to unseat her. Henry returned to run against Williams and lost a close race that was dogged for months by widespread charges of voter fraud.

Henderson, as a member of the election supervisory committee, witnessed the voting.

"There were people voting there who had never been to a meeting," he says. "Some of them didn't even speak English. They were Polynesians. You have to be a member to vote. I had gone to all the meetings and had never seen them. I heard one ask, 'Who do I vote for?' There were memberships purchased for people. Obviously, if they're buying members, who are they going to support?"

Says Dew, "Charles was a witness. He wrote a complaint alleging voter fraud, along with others. Of course, the complaint goes to Ed Lewis.