Box 3, Folder 8, Document 45

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Box 3, Folder 8, Document 45

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OFFICERS
James W. Dorsey
President

David H. Gambrell
Ist Vice President

Sarah Frances McDonald
2nd Vice President

Clifford Oxford
Secretary

McChesney H. Jeffries
Treasurer

STAFF

Michael D. Padnos
Director

Nancy S. Cheves
eneral Counsel

Richard Harris
Community Education

L. Rosser Shelton
Virginia A. Bips
William L. Skinner
Bettye H. Kehrer
Evelyn $. Fabian
Colquitt McGee
Eugene 3. Taylor
John W. Brent
Elmer L. Nash
Larry B. Hooks

D. Freeman Hutton
Cynthia T. Beattie

Michael H. Terry
Edward L. Baety
William J, Brennan, Jr.
George Howell

John Stephen Price
Sondra Goldenfarb

TELEPHONES:
(404) 524-5811
(404) 577-5260

ATLANTA LEGAL AID SOCIETY, INC.

50! FULTON COUNTY COURT HOUSE
ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303

February 10th, 1969

Mr. John Robinson

Community Development Co-ordinator
Office of the Mayor

City of Atlanta

68 Mitchell Street, S. W.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Dear Johnny:
The present status of TUFF is as follows:

On January 16th, the Executive Board of TUFF had
a meeting with the Board of Commissioners of the Atlanta
Housing Authority, and presented to AHA a "Tenants' Bill
of Rights", a copy of which I have enclosed for your
convenience. There was only desultory talk about TUFF's
grievances, the principal issue TUFF presented to the
authority being the future and not the past. That meeting
concluded when the Authority agreed to "study" the proposed
Bill of Rights. When Mrs. Mandy Griggs asked Mr. Stern how
TUFF would have to wait for a response, Mr. Stern informed
her that he "hoped" to have a response "within six months"
but could make no promises.

On February 3rd, TUFF called a meeting of community
leaders to discuss tenants' grievances against the Atlanta
Housing Authority. The following organizations were repre-
sented at that meeting:

Good Government Atlanta

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Metropolitan Atlanta Summit Leadership
Conference

Alpha and Omega Christian Church

Young Men On The Go

SPONSORED BY UNITED APPEAL AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ATLANTA, INC.
Mr. John Robinson February 10th, 1969
Office of the Mayor Page #2.

National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People

Urban League National

Urban League Local

Concerned Clergy

Georgia Council on Human Relations
Atlanta Christian Council
Community Relations Council
Southern Regional Council

Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law

Fulton County Delegation

National Association of Social Workers
AFL-CIO

Operation Breadbasket

American Friends Service Committee
Metropolitan Atlanta Housing Conference,

Incorporated.

Approximately seventy people were in attendance and at
the close of the meeting, Reverend B. J. Johnson recommended
that those present support the efforts of TUFF to obtain the
Tenants' Bill of Rights they had requested,and support TUFF
in any other way possible.
Mr. John Robinson February 10th, 1969
Office of the Mayor Page #3.

The Motion was unanimously carried and the partici-
pants of the meeting then determined to have a mass meeting
on public housing property in order to test the housing
authority's decision to forbid TUFF the use of its community
centers.

The group agreed to meet late in February. The
leaders of TUFF and the leaders of the organizations
represented at the February 3rd meeting are now making
plans for that mass meeting.

According to my most recent information, the Boards

of Directors of the following organizations have endorsed
TUFF's Bill of Rights and pledged to support TUFF:

Metropolitan Atlanta Summit Leadership
Conference

Concerned Clergy

Good Government Atlanta

Georgia Council on Human Relations, and

Metropolitan Atlanta Housing Conference,

Incorporated.

As TUFF's legal advisor, I am, as you might imagine,
anxious to avoid any situation in which my clients would
find themselves at odds with legally constituted authority.
Mr. John Robinson February 10th, 1969
Office of the Mayor Page #4.

The rigid and uncompromising position of the housing
authority, however, has now angered a large segment of
informed opinion in Atlanta. Anything your office can
do to assist my clients would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Padnos

Director
P/cj
nclosure
P, -B. I have just learned from Mrs. Griggs, Chairman

of TUFF, that the housing authority has demanded

of her a substantial payment for "excess gas" and
has refused to accept her rent unless she is willing
to tender the excess payment.

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