Dublin Core
Title
Box 7, Folder 22, Document 2
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
4
‘
THE CITIZENS & SOUTHERN NATIONAL BANK
ATLANTA, GA.
March 16, 1967 -
Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr.
City of Atlanta
City Hall
Atlanta, Georgia
Dear Ivan:
You very kindly agreed to talk with the Board of the Commerce
Club at their next meeting about the Community Council and its role
in the life of the city. You asked me to brief you. Here goes.
The letter attached gives you my general feelings as to past
accomplishments and future purpose of the Council. At a meeting of
leading foundations yesterday and the Council's om Board of
Directors today, the position taken in this letter was reaffirmed
with one exception. Both grouos felt the Council on its own initia-
tive should not be an implementing body in the Future. I very much
agree. The implementing role of the Council was one assumed in the
past because there was no other place to lodge certain ideas for
action. .
The principal implementing forces in ovr commnity should be
local governments and the Community Chest. The War on Poverty
belongs to the local community, not to the Federal Government. It
has been working and should continue to work through local groups.
Officials of the Community Chest, the War on Poverty and some
local governments have spoken out strongly about the need for a
professional fact finding and social planning resource for the
greater Atlanta area, one that is adequately staffed ta do the job
and independent enough to call a spade a spade. This sort of
council not only can help get more federal and state money for the
city but also by good planning can assume that money spent on pro-
grams goes as far as possible.
COPY —
THE CITIZENS & SOUTHERN NATIONAL BANK
ATLANTA, GA.
“Mayor Ivan Allen, dr.
March 16, 1967
Page Two
To keep planning within the control of the local community,
basic operating funds for the Community Council should come from
loeal rather than federal sources. Officials of the Community
Chest in seneral are in agreement with their responsibility for
increasing Chest support and for sharing the Council's basic
aperating budget with local governments. Local gavernments, which
hwo years ago gave no unrestricted funds for the support of the
Council, this year are contributing $27,500. This base mist be
expanded to include other counties and cities in the metropolitan
Atlanta area.
A service you could do the community and the Council is to
affirm the need for a strong professional planning council and the
responsibility of public and private bodies for seeing that the
Council is adequately financed to do its basic job. After the base
budget is funded, the Counetl rapidly will get in a better position
to contract with the city, counties, foundations and other local
groups to do special programming and other work.
Since I shall be out of town the next couple of weeks, Duane
Beek can furnish you other data which you may want before the
meeting of the Commerce Club Board.
Cordially,
* ' James P. Furniss
JPF/as
Attachment
P. S. Some of the places where the city of Atlanta and Community
Council have worked most closely together are Listed cn the attached
sheet.
J. P. F.
COPY
‘
THE CITIZENS & SOUTHERN NATIONAL BANK
ATLANTA, GA.
March 16, 1967 -
Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr.
City of Atlanta
City Hall
Atlanta, Georgia
Dear Ivan:
You very kindly agreed to talk with the Board of the Commerce
Club at their next meeting about the Community Council and its role
in the life of the city. You asked me to brief you. Here goes.
The letter attached gives you my general feelings as to past
accomplishments and future purpose of the Council. At a meeting of
leading foundations yesterday and the Council's om Board of
Directors today, the position taken in this letter was reaffirmed
with one exception. Both grouos felt the Council on its own initia-
tive should not be an implementing body in the Future. I very much
agree. The implementing role of the Council was one assumed in the
past because there was no other place to lodge certain ideas for
action. .
The principal implementing forces in ovr commnity should be
local governments and the Community Chest. The War on Poverty
belongs to the local community, not to the Federal Government. It
has been working and should continue to work through local groups.
Officials of the Community Chest, the War on Poverty and some
local governments have spoken out strongly about the need for a
professional fact finding and social planning resource for the
greater Atlanta area, one that is adequately staffed ta do the job
and independent enough to call a spade a spade. This sort of
council not only can help get more federal and state money for the
city but also by good planning can assume that money spent on pro-
grams goes as far as possible.
COPY —
THE CITIZENS & SOUTHERN NATIONAL BANK
ATLANTA, GA.
“Mayor Ivan Allen, dr.
March 16, 1967
Page Two
To keep planning within the control of the local community,
basic operating funds for the Community Council should come from
loeal rather than federal sources. Officials of the Community
Chest in seneral are in agreement with their responsibility for
increasing Chest support and for sharing the Council's basic
aperating budget with local governments. Local gavernments, which
hwo years ago gave no unrestricted funds for the support of the
Council, this year are contributing $27,500. This base mist be
expanded to include other counties and cities in the metropolitan
Atlanta area.
A service you could do the community and the Council is to
affirm the need for a strong professional planning council and the
responsibility of public and private bodies for seeing that the
Council is adequately financed to do its basic job. After the base
budget is funded, the Counetl rapidly will get in a better position
to contract with the city, counties, foundations and other local
groups to do special programming and other work.
Since I shall be out of town the next couple of weeks, Duane
Beek can furnish you other data which you may want before the
meeting of the Commerce Club Board.
Cordially,
* ' James P. Furniss
JPF/as
Attachment
P. S. Some of the places where the city of Atlanta and Community
Council have worked most closely together are Listed cn the attached
sheet.
J. P. F.
COPY
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