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OMMUNITY RELATION§ COMMJISSIO ESTABLISHED BY THE MAYOR AND THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN, NOVEMBER, 1g66 1!03 CITY HALL, ATLANTA GEORGIA 30303 MR. !RVING K. KALER, Chairman TELEPHONE 5U-U63 EXT. ,'33 June 28, 1967 THE HONORABLE SAll! MASSELL, JR., E:e-Officio President, Board of Aldermen COMMISSION MEMBERS MR. T. M. ALEXANDER, SR. MR. R. BYRON ATTRIDGE TO: MRS. SARA BAKER THE MAYOR AND THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN Mrss HELEN BULLARD MR. R. J. Bun.ER FROM: MR. ROBERT DOBBS MR. HAMILTON DOUGLAS, JR. MR. C. G. EZZARD MOST REVEREND PAUL J. HALLINAN Archbishop of Atlanta MR. JOSEPH HAAS MR. AL KUETTNER DR. ROBERT E. LEE MR. ROLLAND MAXWELL MR. F. W ." PATTERS ON RABBI JACOB M. ROTHSCHILD MR. M. "Buzz" RYAN MR. JACK SELLS Mas. MARY STEPHENS o. THE REvEREND SAMUEL WILLIAMS Mas. ELIZA K . PASCHALL, E:eecutive Director COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION WHEREAS, we the Atlanta Community Relations Commission, have completed the public hearings in the following areas, Summer Hill-Peoplestown, Edgewood-Kirkwood, Vine City-Lightning, Mechanicsville-Pittsburg, Northwest area, Perry Homes-Scotts Crossing, Boulevard area, Capitol Avenue area, Dixie Hills area, and two open meetings city-wide; and Whereas, these meetings have been at the request of the people who live in the area and/or community people who are concerned with wha t is happening and could happen to this City; and WHEREAS, the same thread runs through all of the communities. The complaints have no geographic priorities. In broad areas they can be listed as follows1 l. Apparent unwillingness of the City to move in areas until, as it is phrased, "the City has to". • 2. Job opportunities. 3. Inadequate garbage collection. 4. Inadequate recreation facilities, with particular emphasis on recreation facilities for teenagers and you~g adults. 5. Inadequate police patrol on one hand, and overzealousness of police in emergencies. 6. Bad housing conditions, with the attending problems of high rent, overcrowding, rats, bugs, flies, lack of garbage cans. 7. A feeli~g) tha t the poor people of Atlanta are somehow set apart from the mainstream of the life of the City and that they are as a group, ignored until they start "making things happen ." 8. The policies of the Atlanta Housing Authority, in regard to housing projects. 9. The policies of real estate people in failing to provide minimum conditions relating to health, maintenance, and rent increases; and, �[ J. -2- Resolution cont'd WHEREAS, the City is directly concerned with the first four items: l. Apparent u~willingness---to move in areas until---"the City has to"---- 2. Job opportunities. 3. Inadequate garbage collection. 4. Ina dequate recreation facilities,---- we urge that the Ma yor and the Board of Aldermen take whatever emergency measures are necessary to provide additional recreation facilities, adequate garbage collection, and preplanning in terms of next year, and that planing be a city-wide concern; and, WHEREAS, we recognize that all Departments are limited in terms of finances; and, WHEREAS, we heartily applaud the efforts of the past, we have an obligation and a concern to stress that the time to start for summer planning for 1968 is now; that citizens in all areas should know what is being proposed; a nd, WHEREAS, we believe that the other items listed need further investigation by the Commis s ion; and, WHEREAS, we believe that we can work in area s involving these problems by conferences and hea rings with the people involved; be it further ... RESOLVED, that the Atlanta Community Relations Commission goes on record as being un a lte r ably oppo s ed to mob violence; that we pass this Resolution in a n effor t to alle via te some of the caus e s, and that we underline th e philo s o phy th a t in Atla nta we should not a llow demon s t ra tions to de t e rm i ne City polic ies ; th a t we ur ge priva t e owne r s a nd rent a l agen cies to imme diately beg in f ulf illing their obliga t ions ; that we support the efforts of the Economic Opportunity Atlanta in neighborhood organizations; that we request the City Attorney to furnish the Commission with the legal obligations of priva te owners of dwelli ng s and/or a partm e nt house s; a nd th a t we a ppl a ud the e f forts of all gr oups an d individua l citize ns i n t heir e ffort s t owards maki ng Atla nt a ma intain i ts uniqu e potentia l greatn ess ; and be i t f ur ther -~RESOLV ED, that it is the pro found convict i on of the Atlanta Commun i ty Re lations Commission t ha t no city can achie ve t r ue grea tn e ss wit hout f ulfil l ing its ob l igation fo r city servi c es a nd f or c omm uni t y in volvement; and be it f urt her ~ RESOLVED, that we, as pri vate citizens of Atlanta a nd as me mbers of the Atlanta Comm unity Re l atio ns Commis sion, recog ni z e our own responsibilities and invo l vement an d . our own la te recognition of t hese problems and we urge th e involveme nt of e very responsible citizen in Atlanta in working towards a continuou s effort at the . solution of the p~oblem • . We · rec ognize the efforts of the Ma yor and the Board of Alderm en. �-3- Resolution cont'd In a sense of urgency, we call for a greater concentration of essential efforts in tangible planning and performance of city obligations, which will, we sincerely believe, have the support from all citizens of Atlanta; and be it further RESOLVED, that this is the job for all Atlanta, ·for all citizens in all sections, not just the elected officials. The above Resolution was unamiously adopted at the regular monthly meeting of the Community Relations Commission, June 23, 1967, Committee Room #2, City Hall, Atlanta, Georgia �