NAACP chief Mack leaving

Carl Mack, an outspoken leader of the Seattle area's black community, resigned this morning as president of the local branch of the NAACP, the venerable African-American civil-rights group.

Mack, 42, will be moving to Alexandria, VA to be the executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Mack works as an engineer for King County and has long been involved with NSBE, which works to increase the number of African Americans in the engineering field.

Local attorney Alfoster Garrett, 34, the group's first vice-president, will take the helm of the NAACP chapter, whose membership roughly doubled in size under Mack's leadership.

At a morning news conference at the NAACP offices, Garrett pledged to continue the work Mack started:

— Improving dialogue between the community and the Seattle police department;

— Pushing for increased accountability of law enforcement as well as school district officials; and tackling the achievement gap.

Since his election in November 2002 as NAACP president for the Seattle/King County branch, Mack has been both a polarizing and energizing force in local politics.

Known for a blunt style, he was quoted in an earlier Seattle Times story as comparing Dave Reichert, then the King County sheriff and now a congressman, to Eugene "Bull" Connor, the infamous Alabama sheriff who used police dogs on civil-rights marchers.

He described the Kent School District as a "penal system" because of its security staff's record of handcuffing some students, particularly black youth.

Mack also has overseen a major jump in the group's membership and status. Last year, the national NAACP chose Seattle as the most outstanding of its 1,800 chapters for the year. The branch roughly doubled in size between 2002 and mid-2004, to 1,500 members.

Mack recently said he wanted to increase the branch's membership to 5,000 and to include more African immigrants, according to a Times story.

"Mr. Mack has been very aggressive; he's a very aggressive president," said Oscar Eason Jr., who was unseated as branch president by Mack and is now president of the NAACP's state conference overseeing Washington, Oregon and Alaska. "He has done some things that I think are noteworthy, and I think he has been very energetic in that position."

Under Mack's leadership, the local chapter sued the Kent School District on behalf of 15 black students over the use of handcuffs by school security officers.

In Seattle, he pressed for the ouster of a Cleveland High School teacher who used a racial slur, and he has raised questions about use of force by police, including fatal shootings and use of Tasers that deliver electric shocks.

In August, he took aim at Gov. Christine Gregoire, then the state's attorney general and a candidate for governor. He blasted her for having belonged to a sorority in the late 1960s that wouldn't accept blacks.

Mack was arrested after stepping into a downtown Seattle street during a 2002 protest following the fatal shooting of a black man by a white, off-duty King County sheriff's deputy. A Seattle Municipal Court jury in 2003 found him not guilty of blocking traffic.

He has won over some critics who initially were put off by his approach.

"I have to say I now salute what he's doing - he's taking Seattle and slapping it across the face,"

Larry Evans, 46 and African American, told The Seattle Times in a story last year. He previously had said Mack was overemphasizing "superficial" issues and "victim politics."

The Rev. Phyllis Beaumonte, a state NAACP executive officer, said local youth were drawn to Mack's inspirational speaking and insights about African-American history. Students at Rainier Beach High School, where she taught, have asked to have him speak during Black History Month.

"He was kind of an icon to these young people. He motivated them, and they responded and they had a lot of respect for him."

Seattle Times staff reporters Judith Blake and Maureen O'Hagan contributed to this report. Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311