UPDATE: Urban League CEO flexible on retirement date

The Indianapolis Urban League is in the process of searching for a new president and CEO to replace Joseph A. Slash, a deputy mayor under Bill Hudnut and former vice president at Indianapolis Power & Light.

Slash, 70, confirmed on Thursday that after 12 years with the local affiliate of the national civil rights organization, he plans to move aside for a new leader and spend more time with his family. IBJ reported on Wednesday that the IUL had posted a job opening for president and CEO on its website.

However, he has no definite end date, and plans to stay aboard until the group's search committee has secured a replacement.

"I'm being very flexible," Slash said Thursday. "I'm not that much in a hurry to get out of here by a certain date. The important thing is to take the time to get this right."

Slash joined the Indianapolis Urban League in 2002 as its chief operating officer. He took over as CEO from the local chapter’s iconic founder, the late Sam Jones, in 2003.

From 1978 to 1989, Slash served as a deputy mayor for the city of Indianapolis, where his duties included being Mayor Hudnut’s chief of staff. From 1989 to 2001, he was a vice president for IPL.

One reason to retire now, Slash said, was that he was satisfied with the group's financial position.

In 2010, IBJ reported that IUL was facing a cash crunch after its leaders spent more than a year trying to save a program that lost its funding source. That issue has since been resolved, Slash said.

According to federal tax filings for 2012, IUL reported total revenue of $1.3 million and expenses of $1.46 million. However, due to some belt-tightening and strong fundraising and grant receipts, the group posted a surplus of about $480,000 in 2013, Slash said, on revenue of about $1.95 million and expenses of $1.47 million.