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Summary of S ituation re HUD 's Experimential Housing Pr oject July 15, 1968 April 22 - Mr . H. Ralph Ta ylor, As~istant Se c reta~y of HUD , wrote Mayor Al len explaining the proposed proJect and asked if tlanta wished to participate . The letter stated in part: " These experiments will be carried out only in cities which are willing to cooperate in the development of innovative techniques aimed at generating a h i gher level of housing construction for l ow-income families", and "The Depa rtment will be committing not o nly substantial research funds in this effort, but als o tens of millions of dollars of program funds from several program sources." May 6 - Mayor Allen replied to Secretary Taylor, stating that we definitely want Atlanta included among the cities to be selected for the Experimental Housing project and expressing desire to cooperate fully. ( Atlanta 's application for Model Ci ties stated that Atlanta is prepared to amend applica tion of its codes and ordinances within the Model Cities area as appropriate . ) June 21 - Mayor Allen 's letter of ay 6 acknowledged by Secretary Tayl or, assuring that ev ery possible consideration will be giv en Mayor Alle n ' s recomme nd ation and he would be pleased to advis e when final decision is reached . May 8 - S tudy t e am of ABT-DMJM ( ABT Associates, Inc ., and Da niel, Ma nn , Johnson and Mendenhall) headed by Mr . Allan W. Ca meron, visited Atlanta . Initial conference wa s held with Dan Sweat. Remainder of day, team was escorted ab ou t town by Malc olm Jones who made appointments with key indivials as requested by team and accompanied team representatives on visits . Team was provided a l l materials and records requested. Ma y 24 -2 5 - En larged study team visited Atlanta. Dan Sweat's office made appointments in advance with those requested and his office was made available for use by the team. Malc o lm Jones agai n escorted team members abou t town and arranged for additional interviews and materials requested . May 27 - 28 Malcolm Jones again assisted Mr. James B . Frisby, t eam consultant , in obta i ning additional materials desired. Every possible courtesy was shown the team and complete cooperation given its ~epresentatives by all concerned. The team expressed satisfaction and pleasure re recepti o n and coope:iat ion furnished in Atlanta and ind ica ted that Atlanta would have high priority in its recommendations. June 18 - Mr . Fra nk Shakelford o f Alst on, Miller and Gaines wr ote to Se natois Talmadge and Russell and to Representative Fl etcher Thompson requesting their a~sistance in getting ABT- DMJ M selected as contractor for P hase II and stating that Atlanta is one o f the 15 cities selected . (This reference to Atlanta appears to be prematur e and in error , since the survey report was not due in HUD until June 15) . Al l 3 recipients of Shackelford ' s le tte ~ contacted the Secre tary of the De partment of Housing and Urban Development i n response to Shakelfo rd ' s r e quest. July 2 - Shackel f ord wrote another letter to each o f the above . Members of Congress expressing distress over Atlanta not being included in the 12 cities s e lected and reques ted that HUD be ur ge d to reconsider for selection of 15 ins tead of 12 cities and include At l anta as o ne of t hose to be added. Fletche r Th ompson has written to Secre tary We aver urging such rec o nsidera tion. Action o f Se nators Russell a nd Ta lmadge is not yet known. (Apparently the basis of information on which Mr . Shakelfo rd wrot e letters on July 2 requesting reconsideration by HUD and inclusion of Atlant a in the list of selec t e d ci ti es ) was res ult of t e l ephone cal l fr om Mr . Francis Green in Was hing ton, whose law f irm wa s engaged as General Counsel by ABT- DMJM for its surve y. Mr. Gree n accompani e d the survey team to Atlanta on its second visi t and consulted with Alston Miller and Gaines at that t ime . ' �Summary July 15, 1968 Page 2 According to reliab l e sou r ce, certain officials f r om ash i ngton, D .C., in position t o know the inside story, passed through Atlanta July 7 and advi s ed a l ocal pe r son here i nterested in this project, that Atlanta would probably not b e inc lu ded among the cities to be selected for the Experimental Housing p roject because HUD was seeking cities in which the building codes a r e not too restrictive. Housing MDJ/mac • �