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OFFICERS James W. Dorsey President David H. Gambrell 1st Vice President Sarah Frances McDonald 2nd Vice President Clifford Oxford Secretary Mcchesney H. Jeffries Treasurer ATLANTA LEGAL AID SOCIETY, INC. TELEPHONES: (404) 524-5811 (404) 577-5260 501 FULTON COUNTY COURT HOUSE ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303 February 10th, 1969 STAFF Michael D. Padnos Director Nancy S. Cheves General Counsel Richard Harris Community Education L. Rosser Shelton Virginia A. Bips William L. Skinner Bettye H. Kehrer Evelyn S. Fabian Colquitt McGee Eugene s• .Taylor John W. Brent Elmer L. Nash Larry B. Hooks D. Freeman Hutton Cynthia T. Beattie Mr. John Robinson Community Development Co-ordinator Office of the Mayor City of Atlanta 68 Mitchell Street, S. W., ~tlanta, Georgia 30303 Dear Johnny: Michael H. Terry Edward L. Baety William J. Brennan, Jr. George Howell John Stephen Price Sondra Goldenfarb 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. 11 , On February 3rd, TUFF called a meeting of community leaders to discuss tenants' grievances against the Atlanta Housing Authority. The following organizations were represented 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 SPON SOR ED BY UNI TED APP EAL AND ECONOM I C OPPORT UNI TY ATLA N TA, INC. �February 10th, 1969 Page #2. Mr. John Robinson Office of the Mayor National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Urban League National Urban League Local Concerne d Clergy Georgia Council on Human Relations Atlanta Christian Council Community Re lations Council Southern Regional Council Lawyer's Committee f or Civil Rights Unde r Law Fulton County Delegation Nation al Association of Social Worker s AFL-C IO Operation Breadba s k et Americ an Frien ds Servic e Committee Metropo litan Atlanta Ho using Conference, Inco rpo rated. Approximately seventy peo ple 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 requested1 and support TUFF in any other way p ossible. �Mr. John Robinson Office of the Mayor February 10th, 1969 Page #3. The Motion was unanimously carried and the participants 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 F e bruary. The leaders of TUFF and the leaders of the organizations represented at the Fe bruary 3rd meeting are now making plans for that mass meeting. According to my most recent information, the Boards of Directors of the f ollowing organizations have endorsed TUFF' s Bill o f Rights and p l edged to s uppo rt TUFF: Metropolitan Atlanta Summit Leadership Conference Con c e rned Clergy Good Government Atlanta Ge o rgia Council on Human Relations, a nd Metro p olitan Atlant a Ho usin g Conference , I nco rporated. As TUFF ' s l egal advi s o r , I am, as y o u mi gh t imagin e, anxio us to avo id any sit uation in which my cl i ents wo uld find themselves at odds with legally constituted autho rity. �Mr. John Robinson Office of the Mayor February 10th, 1969 Page #4. The ,r igid 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. ~y~ Michael D. Padnos Director ~P/cj \/Enclosure P. S. 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. M. D. P. �