Box 8, Folder 17, Document 28

Box 8, Folder 17, Document 28

POLICY STATEMENT RE OPLRATION OF
PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

The CDA staff and citizen advisory boards are planning

and coordinating bodies, and as such are expected to have
the capacity and responsibility to recommend the assigniaent
of priorities among, and monitor and evaluate the results
of, projects and activities. The operation of individual
projects and activities by (1) CDA staff; (2) its citizen
advisory body; (3) an organization the board of directors
of which is composed of one or more members of the citizen
advisory body; or (4) an organization in which more than
one-third of the manmbers of the board of directors is
appointed by the citizen advisory body would, in most cases,
be in basic conflict with the fundanental duties cf the
CDA staff or citizen advisory body, and such operation is
not appropriate unless it is demonstrated that the project
or activity is minor and temporary in nature or clearly
incidental to the duty to plan, coordinate, and allocate
resources, or that exceptional circumstances otherwise
Warrant such operation.

In the Model Cities program, projects and activities should
be operated by experienced existing public and private
organizations whenever possible. New organizations will

be funded es operating agencies only iff the city can justify
not using existing experienced organizations and demonstrates
the advantages to be served thereby. The same justification
is required if it is proposed to use an existing organization
which lacks operating experience in the field of activity
proposed for it.

In this way Model Cities may best achieve two of its prime
objectives, appropriate changes in existing institutions
and the improvement of the delivery of services. Fxisting
public and private institutions must be strengthened and
become more responsible for and more responsive to the
needs of the model neighborhood. At the same time, care
must be taken to avoid a misinterpretation of this policy
to the detriment of effective citizen participation or to
condone mexe continuation of unresponsive business~as-usual
projects and activities by existing organizations. This
policy, placing emphasis upon the use of existing organi-
zations, will further Model Cities objectives only if
citizen participants, local governmont, and other existing
institutions focus on improving services and making them
more acceptable and resnonsive to neighborhood needs.
All new or existing public and private organizations
operating projects and activities must comply with the
Statutory mandate to provide maximum opportunities for
employing residents of the model neighborhood in all
phases of the progran.