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MINUTES HUMAN RELATIONS COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 29, 1966 • Members of the Human Relations Committee met at City Hall on Thursday; September 29, 1966, at ll:00 a. m. with the following members present: Alderman Rodney Cook Alderman Richard Freeman Mr. Charles Hart Alderman Charles Leftwich Vice Mayor Sam Mas sell, Jr., Acting Chairman Alderman Everett Millican Mrs. Eliza Paschall Mr. Bennie T. Smith Rev. Samuel W. Williams Also present were: Mr. Dan E. Sweat Director of Governmental Liaison Mr. Jim Pilcher City Attorney's Office The meeting was called to order by Mr . Mas sell and the first order of business was the election of officer s for the Committee. Upon motions duly made, seconded and passed, the following officers were elected: Mr. Sam Mas sell, Jr., Chairman Rev. Samuel W. Williams, Vice Chairman The Committee then reviewed the draft ordinance for the establishment of a human relations commission and the following actions were taken: Section 1: Upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, it was agreed the commission should be called the Community Relations Commission. Upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, it was agreed that seven (7) members of the total of twenty (20) members should constitute a quorum rather than ten (10) members as called for in the draft. It was agreed that the phrase " membership shall include representation of all segments of the City" be included in this section. �Page Two· Section 2: Approved as submitted. Section 3: Approved as submitted. Section 4: Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously passed, sub-section (d) was amended to read as follows: "To investigate, discourage and seek to prevent discriminatory practices against any individual because of race, color, creed, religion, national origin or ancestry." Section 5: The first sentence was amended to read as follows: "The commission shall, with the approval of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, employ an executive director, and the Mayor and Board of Aldermen shall fix his compensation. " The last sentence was amended to read as follows: "He may, with the Mayor's approval and within the limits of the budget of the commission, employ such staff as he needs, and the executive director shall fix the compensation of such staff subject to the approval of the· Personnel Board of the City of Atlanta. " Section 6: Approved as submitted. Section 7: Approved as submitted. Section 8: The first sentence was amended to .read as follows: "The services of all other departments of the City of Atlanta shall be made available to the commission upon its request for such services subject to the extent of the personnel that they have," The second sent ence was amended to re ad as follows: "Information in the possession of any department, board, or agency of the City of Atlanta shall be furnished to the commission upon its request, and to the extent permitted by law and based on the ability of the department, board or agency to provide such information, " Section 9: This section was amended to read as follows: "The Mayor is authorize d to allocate adequate office space and to provide the neces·s ary. facilities in the City Hall for said commission if the office space and facilities are available or to secure space as convenient to the City Hall as possible. 11 Section 10: Approved as submitted. _.: �. Page Three Section 11: Approved as submitted. Upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, it was agreed to add a separate section (Section 12) to the ordinance to provide subpoena power for investigative purposes. The wording of this section will be left to the City Attorney's Office. There being no further discussion on this matter, it was agreed that the ordinance, as amended, be submitted to the Board of Aldermen at their regular meeting on Monday, October 3. In order for this commission to be a charter commission, it will be necessary for the ordinance to be submitted t o the Board of Aldermen three times. -: The Resolution establishing the Human Relations Committee called for the Committee to submit recommendations concerning membership of the Commission. · Mr. Massell appointed the following committee to submit such recommendations to the Human Relations Committee for consideration: Mrs. Eliza Paschall, Chairman Alderman Rodney Cook Mr. Bennie T. Smith Mrs. Dorothy B. Thompson Rev. Samuel W. Williams Concerning the matter of the budget of the Commission, Alderman Millican suggested this not be set until the permanent Commission is appointed so that it can consider the budgetary requirements. Alderman Leftwich and Alderman Millican were appointed as a committee of two to bring the matter to the attention of the Comptroller and the Finance Committee of the Board of Aldermen that at a future date a request for funds for this Commission will be forthcoming. In reviewing the minutes of the previous meeting, it was noted that Aldermen Coe,k 1 Freema.n and Milliean and Mr. Bennie Sn<tith should be added to the list of members present, be c or rected to include these names. It was asked that the minutes Mr. Hart inquired if this committe e could make recommendations to the department heads and, if so, suggested the Board of Education be asked to work with Economic Opportunity Atlanta, Inc. to establish a program to ..~ �l • Page Four keep the school libraries open in the evenings. This was discussed but it was felt this could be more effectively handled under the direction of the permanent Commission. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be scheduled after Mrs. Paschall's committee completes its recommendations. ,, ' . �