(Shirley) Sherrod contract with USDA a work in progress

Source: The Washington Post

USDA’s plans to forge a consulting contract with former Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod have turned rocky. Sherrod, who met briefly with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and his staff two weeks ago about contracting with USDA to help the department address long-standing civil rights issues, has said she was insulted by the department’s initial offer.

Vilsack fired Sherrod last year after media reports misconstrued her statements about white farmers as racially insensitive. She was offered a contract that her spokesman valued at about $35,000 — without expenses for travel.

“The resources that would be available for her don’t work for the things that they are proposing,” said Sherrod’s spokesman Drew Berry. “She is not angry with Vilsack, but she is not happy with the process and what has transpired. She is willing to help, but she is not going to do anything in a superficial way.”

USDA spokesman Justin DeJong said “discussions are ongoing,” and department officials told members of the Congressional Black Caucus — who took up the issue of Sherrod’s contract at their weekly meeting Wednesday — that the issue is a misunderstanding.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sherrod-contract-with-usda-a-work-in-progress/2011/05/26/AGTM8LCH_story.html