Box 7, Folder 17, Document 50

Box 7, Folder 17, Document 50

NEWSLETTER

OF THE

JOMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION

ESTABLISHED BY THE MAYOR AND THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN, NOVEMBER, 1060
1803 CITY HALL, ATLANTA GEORGIA 30308 TELEPHONE 588-4408 EXT. 433



A CITIZENS' AGENDA

FIRST QUARTERLY PROGRAM REPORT —

Mayor Allen, in installing the members, said:

"As Atlanta's neighborhoods have grown up and spread out, also they have grown apart.
Despite the instantaneous speed of modern electronic communications, it has become
increasingly difficult to relate the interests of various neighborhoods one with
another in the rapidly changing social, cultural and economic fabric of our city.
For that is the way I see Atlanta -- as a group of more than 500,000 people with

the common interest of making Atlanta always a better place to live in, to do all
possible to make it become America's finest city. It is in the spirit of this
common interest that this Commission has been created -- As I wish you Godspeed

in your activities. I pledge you the enthusiastic cooperation of your City
Government ,"'
ke * * F eK OF

The Community Relations Commission of the City of Atlanta inherited an unfinished
agenda from an Ad Hoc Human Relations Committee, which was appointed by the Board
of Aldermen in August 1966,

In July 1966 a meeting had been called by "Grass Roots" Community leaders to con-
sider how Atlanta might avoid the disturbances that had erupted in other cities,
(It should be noted that this was held before the disturbances in Summerhill and
Boulevard, in August).

A resolution was adopted at the meeting, asking the Alderman to appoint a Committee
to work towards the establishment of a biracial, human relations committee for the
City of Atlanta,

On August lst, the Board of Aldermen did adopt a resolution calling for the appoint-
ment of such a committee, to be composed of the Chairman of the Finance, Parks,
Police, Public Works I, Public Works II, Urban Renewal Policy and Zoning Committees
of the Board of Aldermen, and a committee "to be selected and designated by the
Atlanta Summit Conference," with the Vice-Mayor an ex-officio member,

The Ordinance specified that the Committee should survey "the services and facilities
which are furnished in the areas of the City known as Blue Heaven, Vine City,
Mechanicsville, Summerhill, Cabbage Town and such as other areas as may be de-
termined by the Committee and to make recommendations to the Mayor and Board of
Aldermen for the furnishing of necessary services and facilities -- which will
standardize these services furnished in the above-mentioned order as with all

other areas of the City."

The Ordinance further authorized the Committee to "formulate and present recommen~
dations for the Membership and formation of a Human Relations Commission for the
City of Atlanta together with ‘an estimated financial statement."

‘BO OR OW A Oe OK

Such a Committee was appointed, and was convened by Mayor Ivan Allen to hear
reports from heads of major departments about improvements in City Services
into substandard areas and to take a bus tour of various substandard and Urban
Renewal areas. }

At the second meeting of the Committee the advisability of inviting persons from
these areas to a Public Meeting was discussed and it was agreed that such a
hearing would be held to better advantage if and when there was a permanent
Commission with a staff to follow through on the problems brought up. And so the
Committee, with the Vice-Mayor serving as chairman, turned its attention to the
recommendation of the creation of a permanent biracial Community Relations
Commission,
The Ordinance establishing the Commission, which is an amendment to the City Charter
was adopted on November 8, 1966, The appointments made by the Mayor, to the 20
Member Commission, were approved by the Board of Aldermen. The Organizational
. Meeting was held on December 14, 1966 with speeches by Mayor Allen and Mr. John

. Feild, Director of the Community Relations Service of the U. S. Conference of
Mayors.

a a i i ie

The Commission, at its first regular meeting in January elected an Executive
Director, (whose appointment was approved at the next meeting of the Board of
Atdermen on February 7, 1967) and adopted as its first Agenda the unfinished.
business of the Ad Hoc Human Relations Committee - to hold hearings, both at City
Hall and in specified neighborhoods, where Citizens might state their needs.

On February 16th, an overflow crowd appeared in the "Aldermanic Chamber to speak and
to: listen." Speakers included a member of the State Board of Family & Children's

. Services, a dean of a school of Social Work, representatives from a Youth Council,
iadividual citizens from different areas. Through April, five meetings have been
held to hear from ten to twelve neighborhoods. Three or more members of the
Commission have been assigned as a Team for each area. Information Profiles on each
neighborhood have been prepared so Commission Members and others can better under-
stand the importance of various requests, These Profiles plus detailed minutes of
each meeting provide a unique window for looking into these areas, each with unique
problems reflecting its own characteristic -- physical, economic, political --

and yet, all together giving patterns of problems.

* * & & &€ & KF *

Most of the requests have concerned the most basic public services, with little
reference to civil rights or discrimination. Decent housing, safe streets and side-
walks, recreation, adequate sewers and sanitary services, increased police patroling
-- these are among the most frequently mentioned items, In some areas there are
complaints from home owners about a strict code enforcement. In others, the com-
plaints are that landlords are not required to meet standards, Throughout there is
confusion and anxiety about possibilities of displacement and relocation because

ot code enforcement, urban renewal, highways, etc. (At the request of the residents
a special meeting was scheduled about the various city plans in one of the areas.)

Public Housing is an area unto itself, with many questions about the actual amounts
of rents and charges, but most important, questions about the authority of the
manager and the lack of feeling of freedom and independence to question and complain
The month to month lease and the authority of the manager to evict ( and until the
recent Supreme Court ruling, that without written reason) has created a situation .
where many tenants feel they have no recourse -- particularly in view of the cost

of moving and the difficulty of finding other accomodations if one is evicted from
public housing, A request to help "stabilize a neighborhood" has opened up the
subject of racial patterns of housing. The Commission has collected information and
insights and is now attempting to develop realistic recommendations for all the
various segments of the community which are involved,

In areas where few residents have cars, public transportation becomes of much more
importance, economically and socially. The lack of streets and sidewalks, much
less public transportation in many cases accounts for apparent lack of neighborhood
spirit. Holes in sidewalks and dimly lit streets also become more important when
travel is on foot,

Everywhere there is a plea for recreation - places for children and young people to
play, equipment, supervisors - young and old, The scarcity of parents at home makes
this need especially acute. There have been many suggestions for areas in the
neighborhoods suitable for recreation and play areas. Pleas for coordination of
public services to provide maximum use of -- for example, use of school yards for
recreation, use of public health facilities for planned parenthood and other
clinics; dovetailing of code enforcement and planning programs ~ has been both
implicit and explicit, The inconvenience of the present dearth of information
services at City Hall has also been noted and appreciation expressed for the

evening hearings to register requests and complaints. Running throughout the
comments is a healthy combination of idealism - (citizens expect good public 4
services) - and skepticism - ("We've been talking about this since God nade men.")
but above all, the feeling this Community Relations Commission represents just about
the last chance of Getting Something Done.


And has Something Been Done? Some action, even if it is only an inquiry, has been
taken on every request that has been made. Some report has been or will be made to
the individual, Street lights have been scheduled. Trash picked up. Some housing
problems straightened out -- The various departments of the City and other agencies
have been cooperative and where possible, have complied with the requests for
service, It is apparent, however, that the inadequacy of services stems not so much
from the insensitivity of administrative officials as from the limit of the resources
presently available to them.

A Se ae 6 FR Oe Oe oe

The function of a "Complaint Bureau" is a valid one. The function of a communication
center is a valid one, These, the Commission will continue to perform,

The next phase, however, in its program is to move from the specific to the general,
from the remedial to the preventive, from acting as an agent to acting as an
innovator, To do this, the Commission plans first to meet with Heads of Departments
and Agencies and to expand its organization in 3 directions, Already 12 individuals
in professional positions have been invited to serve as a Technical Advisory
Committee to the Director and Chairman,

Advisory Committees to the Commission in 12 areas will be named. These will include
individuals already informed and those who want to be informed. They will duplicate
the cross section composition of the Commission and will enable the Commission to
make more realistic recommendations to the Mayor and the Aldermen, The areas in
which Advisory Committees are anticipated are -- Housing, Education, Employment,
Police and Law Enforcement, Recreation, Public Accomodations, Registration & Voting,
Municipal Services, Welfare and Public Assistance, Social and Health Services,
communications within & between Groups and Voluntary Associations.

A week after the first hearing at City Hall, on citizens needs, the Commission held
a second Public Hearing and invited civic organizations and agencies to describe
their programs and make suggestions to the Commission: 50 were represented and ex-
pressed support and offered their cooperation with the Commission.

In each of the neighborhoods visited, the Commission Team will keep in touch with
various land resource people, in order to have continuous communication following

up on the hearing. With a solid background of 3 months of daily contacts with the
needs of citizens and administration, the Commission is now ready to accept these
offers of help and to call on interested individuals and groups to join in developing
a Citizens' Agenda to carry out the following functions as described in the City
Ordinance:

"To foster mutual understanding, tolerance, and respect among all
economic, social, religious and ethnic groups in the city."

"To help make it possible for each citizen, regardless of race, color,
creed, religion, national origin or ancestry, to develop his talents
and abilities without limitation."

"To aid in permitting the City of Atlanta to benefit from the fullest
realization of its human resources,"

"To investigate, discourage-and seek to prevent discriminatory
practices against any individual because of race, color, creed,
religion, national origin or ancestry."

"To attempt to act as conciliator in controversies involving human
relations," .

“To cooperate in the development of educational programs dedicated
to the improvement of human relations with, and to enlist the
support of, civil leaders, civic, religious, veterans, labor,
industrial, commercial and eleemosynary groups; and private
agencies engaged in the inculcation of ideals of tolerance,
‘mutual respect and understanding."


MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION

(Appointed by Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr.,
and approved by the Board of Aldermen)

Mr. T, M, Alexander,Sr. 521-0549
208 Auburn Avenue, Northeast
Mr. R. Byron Attridge 525-0484

Trust Company of Georgia Building

Mrs. Sara Baker 627-8193

928 Park Avenue, Southeast

Miss Helen Bullard 577-3600

Toombs, Amisano & Wells '

70 Fairlie Street, Northwest

Mr. R. J. Butler 524-5001
- 250 Tenth Street, Northeast

Mr. Robert Dobbs 622-0919

2455 Abner Place, Northwest

Mr. Hamilton Douglas, Jr. 522-2200

National Bank of Georgia Building

Mr. Clarence G. Ezzard 627-1187
245 Atlanta Avenue, Southeast
Mr. Joseph Haas 525-6141

First National Bank Building

Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan 233-2148
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
_P. O. Box 12047, Northside Station

Mr. Irving K. Kaler,Chairman 525-6886
1820 Fulton National Bank Building

Mr. Al Kuettner 873-3823
675 Sherwood Road, Northeast
Dr. Robert E. Lee 874-8664

Lutheran Church of the Receemer
731 Peachtree Street, Northeast

Mr. Rolland Maxwell
Davison's
180 Peachtree Street, Northwest

522-1300

Mrs. Fred W. Patterson - 233-1624
2959 Andrews Drive, Northwest

Rabbi Jacob M. Rothschild
The Temple
1589 Peachtree Road, Northeast

873-1731

Mr. M. O. "Buzz" Ryan, 688-6500
General Manager ;

Marriott Motor Hotel

Courtland at Cain Street

fr. Jack Sells 355-4311

1416 Hills Place, Northwest

Mrs. Mary Stephens 766-5001

' 2840 Dearwood Drive, Southwest

Rev. Samuel Williams 688-0206

Friendship Baptist Church
437 Mitchell Street, Southwest

RTT RINE RA RIERA AEE ERE ICR TS

* Executive Director 522-4463*

* Mrs. Eliza K. Paschall Ext. 433%

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Ex-Officio Member:

Mr. Sam Masseil, Jr. 521-1694
Vice Mayor, City of Atlanta

40 Pryor Street, Southwest

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THE. ATLANTA COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION MEETS THE FOURTH FRIDAY IN EACH MONTH

AT THE CITY HALL, 1:20 P.M., ROOM 22, MEETINGS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION
1203 CITY HALL
ATLANTA, GECRGIA 30303



Non = Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PATLD
Atlanta, Georgia
Permit No.711



Mr. R. Earl Landers |
Adm. Asst. to Mayor

Atlanta, Ga. 30303

68 Mitchell St., SW |