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h 1 . NEWSLE E OMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMIS«;I:;: ESTABLISHED BY THE llUYOR AND THE BOARD OP A LDERMEN, NOVEMBER, l P55 llOI CITY RA.LL, ATLANTA GEORGIA 10101 A CITIZENS' AGENDA FIRST QUARTERLY PROGRAM REPORT Mayor Allen, in installing the members, said: "As Atlanta's neighborhoods have grown up and spread out, also they have grown apart. Despite the instantaneous speed of modern electronic communications, it has become increasingly difficult to relate the interests of various neighborhoods one with another in the rapidly changing social, cultural and economic fabric of our city. For that is the way I see Atlanta -- as a group of more than 500,000 people with the common interest of making Atlanta always a better place to live in, to do all possible to make it become America's finest city. It is in the spirit of this common i nterest that this Commission has been created -- As I wish you Godspeed in your activities. I pledge you the enthusiastic cooperation of your City Government."

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The Community Relations Commission of the City of Atlanta inherited an unfinished agenda from an Ad Hoc Human Relations Committee, which was appointed by the Board of Aldermen in August 1966. In July 1966 a meeting had been called by "Gr.ass Roots" Community leaders to consider how Atlanta might avoid the disturbances that had erupted in other cities. (It should be noted that this was held before the disturbances in Summerhill and Boulevard, in August). A resolution was adopted at the meeting, asking the Alderman to appoint a Committee to work towards the establishment of a biracial, human relations committee for the City of Atlanta. On August 1st, the Board of Aldermen did adopt a resolution calling for the appointment of such a c ommittee, to be composed of the Chairman of the Finance, Parks, Police, Public Works I, Public Works II, Urban Renewal Policy and Zoning Committees of the Board of Aldermen, and a committee "to be selected and designated by the Atlanta Summit Conference," with the Vice-Mayor an ex-officio member. The Ordinance specified that the Cammi ttee should survey "the services and facili tiet: which are furnished in the areas of the City known as Blue Heaven, Vin e City, Mechanicsville, Summerhill, Cabbage Town and such as other areas as may be determined by the Committee and to make recommendations to the ~ayor and Board of Aldermen for the furnishing of necessary services and facilities •• which will standardize these services furnished in the above-mentioned order as with all other areas of the City." The Ordinance further authorized the Committee to "formulate and present recommendations for the Membership and formati on of a Human Re lations Commission for the City of Atlanta together with ·an estima t e d financia l statement."

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Such a Committee was appointed, and was· convened by Mayor Ivan Allen to hear reports fr om heads of major departments a bout improvements in City Ser vices into substandard areas and to take a bus tour of various s ubstanda r d and Ur ban Renewa 1 areas • At the second meeting of the Committee the advisability of inviting persons from these areas to a Public Meeting was discussed and it was agreed that such a hearing would be held to better advantage if and when there was a pe nnanent Commission with a staff to follow through on the problems brought up. And so the Committee, with the Vice-Mayor serving as chairman, turned its attention to the recommendation of the creation of a permanent biracial Community Relations Commission. �- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - -- - - - - -- - -- - The Ordinance establishing the Commission, which is an amendment to the City Charter was adopted on November 8, 1966. The appointments made by the Mayor, to the 20 Member Commission, were approved by the Board of Aldermen. The Organizational . Meeting was held on December 14, 1966 with speeches by Mayor Allen and Mr. John \ Feild, Director of the Community Relations Service of the u. $. Conference of Mayors. '

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The Commission, at its first regular meeting in January elected an Executive Director, (whose appointment was approved at the next meeting of the Board of Aldermen on February 7, 1967) and adopted as its first- Agenda the unfi~ished · business of the Ad Hoc Human Relations Committee - to hold hearings, both at City Hall and in specified neighborhoods, where Citizens might state their needs. On February 16th, an overflow crowd appeared in the "Aldermanic Chamber to speak and -to , l:isten. 11 Speakers included a member of the State Board of Family & Children's

. ,Sc r'1ices, a dean of a school of Social Work, representatives fr~m a Youth Council,

iJdi~idual citizens from different areas. Through April, five meetings have been held to hear from ten to twelve neighborhoods. Three or more members of the C0mmission have been assigned as a Team for each area. Information Profiles on each n~ighborhood have been prepared so Commission Members and others can better u~derstand the importance of various requests. These Profiles plus detailed minutes of each meeting provide a unique window for looking into these areas, each with unique problems reflecting its own characteristic -- phys~cal, economic, political -and yet, all together giving patterns of problems.

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Most of the requests have concerned the most basic public services, with little reference to civil rights or discrimination. Decent housing, safe streets and sidewalks, recreation, adequate sewers and sanitary services, increased police patroling -- these are among the most frequently ment~oned items. In some areas there. are complaints from home owners about a strict code enforcement. Io others, the com:P!aints are that landlords are not required to meet standards. Throughout there is confusion and anxiety about possibilities of displacement and relocation because 0£ code enforcement, urban renewal, highways, etc. (At the request of the residents a special meeting was scheduled. about the various city plaQs in one of . the areas.) Public Housing is an area unto itself, with many questions about che actual amounts of rents and charges, but most important, questions about the authority of the manager and the lack of feeling of freedom and independence to question and complain The month to month lease ~nd the authority of the manager to evict ( and until the recent Supreme Court ruling, that without written reason) has created a situation where many tenants feel they have no recourse -- particularly in view of the cost of moving and the difficulty of finding other accomodations if one is evicted from public housing. A request to help "stabilize a neighborhood" has opened up the subject of racial patterns of housing. The Commission has collected information and insights and is now attempting to develop realistic recommendations for all the various segments of the community wh-ich are involved. In areas where few residents have cars, public transpot'tation becomes of r:mch more importance, economically and socially. The lack of streets and sidewalks, much less public transportation in many cases accounts for apparent lack of neighborhood spirit. Holes in sidewalks and dimly lit .s treets also become more important when travel is on foot. Everywhere there is a plea for recreation - places for children and young people to play, equipment, supervisors - young and old. The scarcity of parents at home makes this need especially acute. There have been many suggestions for areas in the neighborhoods suitable for recreation and play areas. Pleas for coordination of pttblic services to provide maximum use· of -- for example, use of school yards for recreation, use of public health facilities f or planned parenthood and other clinics; dovetailing of code enforcement and planning programs - has been both implicit and explicit. The inconvenience of the present dearth of information services at City Hall has also been noted and appreciation expressed for the evening hearings to register requests and complaints. Running throughout the connnents is a healthy combination of idealism - (citizens expect good pub).ic services) - and skepticism - (We 've been talking about this, :,/fnce God r.w.de men·") but above all, the feeling this C_ommunity Relations C-Ommi&sion -r.epresents just about the last chance of Getting Something Done. �And ha s Something Been Done? Some action, even if it is only an inquiry, has been t aken on every r equest that has been made. Some report has been or will be made to t he indi v idua 1. Street lights have been scheduled. Trash picked up. Some housing r,rob lems straightened out -- The . various departments of the City and other agencies have been cooperative and where possible, have complied with the requests for service. It is apparent, howe ver, that the inadequacy of services stems not so much from the insensitivity of administrative officials as from the limit of the resources pre sently available to them.

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The function of a "Complaint Bureau" is a valid one. The function of a communication center is a valid one. These, the Commission will continue to perform. The ne x t phase, however, in its program is to move f r om the specific to the general, from the remedial to the preventive, from acting as an agent to acting as an innovator. To do this, the Co111mission plans first to meet with Heads of Departments and Agencies and to e xpand its organization in 3 di r ections. Already 12 individuals in professional positions have been invited to serve as a Technical Advisory Committee to the Director and Chairman. Advi sory Committees to the Connnission ia 12 areas will be named. These wi ll include individuals already informed and those Hho want to be informed. They will duplicate the cross section composition of the Commission and will enable the Commission to make more realistic recommendations to the Mayor and the Aldermen. The areas in which Advisory Committees are anticipated are -- Housing, Education, Employment, Poli ce and Law Enforcement, Recreation, Public Accomodations, Registration & Voting, Muni cipal Services, Welfare and Public Assistance, Social and Health Services, communications within & between Groups and Voluntary Associations. A week after the first hearing at City Hall, on citizens needs, the Commission held a second Public Rearing and invited civic organizations and agencies to describe their programs and make suggestions to the Commission~ 50 were represented and expressed support and offered their cooperation with the Commission. In each of the neighborhoods visi.ted, the Commission Team will keep in touch with various land resource people, in order to have continuous communication following up on the · hearing. With a solid background of 3 months of daily contacts with the needs of citizens and administration, the Commission is now ready to accept these offers of help and to call on interested individuals and groups to join in developing a Citizens' Agenda to carry out the following functions as described in the City Ordinance: To foster mutual understanding, tolerance, and respect among all economic, social, religious and ethnic groups in the city." "To help make it possible for each citizen, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin or ancestry, to develop his talents and abilities without limitation," "To aid in permitting the City of Atlanta to benefit from the fullest realization of its human resources." "To investigate, discourage -and seek to prevent discriminatory practices against any individual because of race, color, creed, religion, national origin or ancestry." "To attempt to act as conciliator in controversies involving human relations." ttT o cooperate in the development of educational programs dedicated to the improvement of human relations with, and to enlist the support . of, civil leaders, civic, religious, veterans, labor, indu strial, commercial and eleemosynary groups; and private agencies engaged in the inculcation of ideals of tolerance, ·mutual respect and understanding." �MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION (Appointed by Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr., and approved by the Board of Aldermen) . Mr. T . M. Alexande r ,Sr. 521-0549 · 208 Auburn Avenue, Northeast Mr. R. Byron Attridge 525-0484 Trus t Company of Georgia Building Mrs. Sara Baker 928 Park Avenue, Southeast Mr. Rolland Maxwell 522-1300 Davison's 180 Peachtree Street, Northwest Mrs. Fred W. Patterson -; 233-1624 2959 Andrews Drive, Northwest 627-8193 Miss Helen Bullard 577-3600 Toombs, Amisano & Wells 70 Fairlie Street, Northwest Rabbi Jacob M. Rothschild 873-1731 The . Temple 1589 Peichtree Road, Northeast Mr. M. 0. "Buzz" Ryan, General Manager Marriott Motor Hotel Courtland at Cain Street 688-6500 Mr . R. J, Butler 250 Tenth Street, Northeast 524-5001 Mr. Robert Dobbs 2·455 Abner Place, Northwest 622-0919 Mr. Jack Sells 355-4311 1416 Hills Place, Northwest Mr. Hamilton Douglas, Jr. 522~2200 National Bank of Georgia Building Mrs. Mary Stephens 766~5001 2840 Dearwood Drive, Southwest Mr. Clarence G. Ezzard 627-1187 245 Atlanta Avenue, Southeast Rev. Samuel Williams 688-0206 Friendship Baptist Church 437 Mitchell Street, Southwest Mr. Joseph Haas 525-6141 First National Bank Building Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Z33-2148 Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta _P. 0. Box 12047, Northside S~ation

Executive Director 522-4463*

Mrs. Eliza K. Paschall Ext. 433*

Mr. Irving K. Kaler,Chai r man 525-6886 1820 Fulton National Bank Building Mr. Al Kuettner 873-3823 675 Sherwood Road, Northeast Ex-Officio Member: 87.!~-8664 Dr . Robert E. Lee Lutheran Church of the Rece e~er 731 Peachtree Street, Nor theast 521-1694 Mr. Sam Massell, Jr. Vice Mayor, City of Atlanta 40 ~ryor Street, Southwest

THE. ATLANTA COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION MEETS THE. FOURTH FRIDAY IN EACH MONTH AT· THE CITY HALL, 1:30 P.M., ROOM 22. MEETINGS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION 1203 CITY HALL ATLANTA, GECRGIA 30303 Mr. R. Earl Landers Adm. Asst. to Mayor 68 Mitchell St., SW Atlanta, Ga. 30303 Non - Profit Organization U.S. Postage PA ID Atlanta, Georgia Permit No. 711 �