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COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION 1203 CITY HALL ATLANTA, GEORGIA EDGEWOOD- KIRKWO OD NEIGHBORHOOD HEARING, MARCH 14 7 1967, WESLEY AVENUE SCHOOL The f irst neighborhood hearing of the Community Relations Commission of the city of Atlanta was held March 14, 1967 at 8:00 porn • at the Wesley Avenue School. Mr . Hamilt on Douglas, Jr. · pre s ided . Other Commission members present were Mrs. Mary Stephens, Chairman, Mr. C. G. Ezzard, Mr. M. D. Ryan ·and Mrs. Sara Baker. Mr. Douglas t old the group the committee was very grateful to be at the meeting, and to feel free to tell them what was on their mindso He t old t hem how the Commission was established and whyo He asked individuals desiring to speak to sign a card. The following is what the individuals had to report to the Commission. 1. MR. CH ARLES TURNER, 1567 Paxton Street, Mr have the committee in the neighborhoodo 0 Turner stated that he was happy t o He was concerned with trying t o get low rent houses. He said most of the people in the community were wage earners, that they had few professionalso He said they had been promised this, they even made a survey and made plans, but since then they have built a new school, put up a warehouse, and built a park. The apartments in the area are sub-standard. He would li ke for the Commission to help get low·rent housing in this area. 2. MR. J AME S DEAN , 17 East Lake Drive, Mr. Dean said that he has been living in the N.E. area for 9 months, and was buying a house on East Lake Drive. He told the committ ee he had 10 things that he would like t o bring before them. 1. Wh a t are s om e of the real concrete pow ere of the Commission , Mr. Dou glas answered by saying the Commission was forned to 'fi nd out the problems that exi st in the city and make recommendations to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, because, he stated, they are going to correct the things that are wrong. He said the problems that will be heard tonight has a relationship to various parts of the city, for example, police service, and poor service will be heard from, ·from all the areas . The commit tee will take the problems back to the Mayor a nd Board of Aldermen, and the different departments. The Commission does not have t he power to do what needs t o be done , but will recomme nd what i t think needs to be done He 0 stressed the fact that since the Commission has come this far in its program , he believE:>'it will be able to help correct s ome of the wrong 0 �-22. We-nee d more parking s i gns on East Lake Dri v e He stated there has been several accidents in front of his house because of no pa r kin g signs. 3. There is a n e e d in the East L2ke are a for enforcement of Health Laws. Genera l sanitation is bad. He stated the sanitation department was coming around 2 or 3 times ~ week, now sometimes they do not come around at all during the week. 4. There is a need for proper street lightning on Memorial Drive, East Lake, and Boulevard. s. There is a need for Enforcement of the Housing Code. 6. Better sewer conditions are neededi he said when it rains, it seems like a - flood. I • 7. There are no s ide wa l ks on Boulevard and East Lake. 8. Edu c a ti on. East Lake Elementary is overcrowded. school went on double sessions~ The first of February the He said the parents were only notified one week in advance of the doublfr session, this was u~far because the parents did not have time to make the adjustments. Example, a child changing from going to school in the morning and start on the afternoon session, the problem of g e tti ng s omeone to look after him in the mornings because the parents have to work. During the 1965-66 term there There i s no P,T,A. in the school. were only 42 Negro es in the school with a· capacity of 625. Now there are 900 students with the increase of Negroes moving into the neighborhood. 9 • . The store s in the area are very un sa nit a ry • . The vegetables and meats are o f a v ery l ow grade. 10 . Re z oining. The area is in a transitional period from whites to Negroes. Now they wa nt t o rez one it for business . In his area, Carter St. and East Lake Drive. Mr. Ryan co mplimented Mr. Dean on his remarks. P.T.A. in the school. Then he asked why there is no Mr. Dean said because the students are 80 to 90 and the parents do not want to meet together. He said the principal is retiring, but this sh ou ld not ha v e anything to do with t he P 0 T .A. Dean what d id he do. Social Work. Mr. Ezzard as ked Mr. He said he was student at Atlanta University School of Mr. Ezzard suggested to him that he come to the Commis sion and se e wha t he could do to help. 3. % Negro He s aid he would. MR. RALFH LO NG, PRINCIPAL OF WESLEY AVE. SCHODL u Mr. Long s tated that it was the responsibility of the parents and not the teachers or principal to sta rt a P.T.A. The teachers and principals are suppose to cooperate with t hem after it is establishedo �-3- He also brough t up z oning. Two years ago t here was no liquor stores from Moreland Avenue to Deca t ur . store e n almost every corner. Now that the Negroes are moving in, there is a He said as f ar as crime is concerned it is going to get worse and all these liquor stores are contributing to it. He sa{d who ever is permitting al l the s e store s licenses should not be permitted t o do so. Mrs. St ephens s ta ~cd there has been a lot of changes in the permitting of licenses 0 It is no w out of the hands of the Board of Aldermen. Mr. Long sa i d he would like to know who to see about the matter and he would follow throu gh. He s a id they would go to court if that was necessary to halt the number of store s tha t were being permitted to openo 4. MR. J AME S CRO WLEY, 50 Ma s on Avenue , N, w. , Mr. Crowley· is concerned with recrea t ion, he said it is very poor in th e areao In the past 10 years the area ha s gro wn tremendously, and recreation facilities have not been added to acco mod a te th em. There is a smalljumped up park" in back of the school, Wesle y Ave ., but it is not adequate. of Cha ndler Pa rk . vi s ors a re ne e ded . parks.) It was put up to keep the Negroes out The part is not properly supervised. More trained super- (look into the facilities of Walker, · and Besser Brandon Mr . Howard Long of the Recreation Depar tment was sent to the meeting by Mi ss Carmic hael , he said he would take the complaints back to Miss Carmichael an c 1".r. Delius. 5. MR. A WA TSON, 18 7 Wes le y Ave ., Mr . Watson stated t he need for a be t t er l i ghtning system. He sa i d t he r e i s nig ht s chool f rom 6 : 30 unt i l 10 : 30 and the area around th e sch ool i s s o dark some pe ople are afr ai d t o come out . He a s ked the Commission t o help get l i ghts on bas eball a nd foo t ball fie lds , he sa id i f th e se a r e a s are lig hted, crime will go do wn (Mr. Douglas s aid if he ha d no t studied a ma p f or half. a n ho ur before c omi ng , he would not have been a ble t o f i nd the s chool .) Mr . Wa tson s ai d it is eve n wo~se when t here is a he avy rain . Al so Foo t e a nd Second St r eet s ar e not paved , this :is also bad when i t r ai ns. ha ve bee n a dded si nc e the are a was lighted up in t he begin ning . He s a i d no lig hts He also me ntio ned ol d ho uses t hat s hould be t orn down , he ~ga ve an e xample of a fir e down s tairs i n one of th e sch ool s, and the f ±re wagon could not get in becau s e of the houses . 60 r~RS. ELIZ ABETH GIFFORD, 1565 Bo ~ (Left befor e her turn ) 7. MR. DELMAR R, YODE R, 1800 Memo ri al Dri ve , Edgewood NeiQ hbqrhoqd Serv i ce Ce nter. Mro Yoder st a te d t ha t he wa s spea king as a pro fessional a nd was wo rking wit h the people in the a reao Ha s a i d t he Commi ss ion nee ded to deal with Pu blic �-4- Rela t ions of minority groups, and he said Miss Bullard could lead it. This groGp would let the people know about the good things going on in the neighborhoo ds0 He said that crime , and filth always get a place on the front page, but the good things are overlookedv He stated there are many good families in this a r ea. He s ~id that Bert School was start ed sometimes ago and seems like it will never be finished. Others schools have been finished that were started after this one. He was co~cer ne d with white abandonment of area s when Negroes start to move in. · He s a id it should be someway to get people to stop movingv about ge t ting low rent housing. He was alas concerned He said the Commission should try to influence the Urb an Renewal to help with this. He stated that the city has built a new stadium and other nice things of this nature, but we need something for the peo pl e of areas like But termilk Bottom, etc. Ag enci e s are not providing services. e>:ample. He said the City Wide Service He gave the Metro Atlanta YMCA as an He said the Atlanta and Dekalb Government work against each other. When s omethin g is brought up one say it is t he responsibili ty of the other. He said he was gl a d Mr. Lon g of t he Recreation De partment was present, but Miss Ca rmichael and Mr. Delius already know of the problems that exist. 8. MR. HENRY W. BROOKS , 1 312 Dupon t Avenue, S. E. Mr . Broo ks s aid wh e n he move d 7 ye ars a go i t was a very nice neighborhood, now i t is junked up with on e t hing a nd t hen a nother. t o c heck on this . The City wa s s uppose On Wylie Stree t refriger ato r s are dumped. The people are rui ning th e nei gh bo r hood by us ing it as a junk yard . 9. MR S. LOU ISE WHITE, 220 Hu t chi ns Street , Mr s . Whi t e is a civi c worker v s a i d sh e l i ve i n th e hea rt of Edg ewoo d. She Agr ees with Mr. Brook s a bout the ju nk ya rd s . Sa i d t he c i vi c grou p c a nnot do a thi ng a bout it . She gav e a n example of a car being dumped on La f ran ce St re e t , the polic e put a t icket on it. Now pe opl e are taking pa r ts off i t, soon it wi l l be a pil e of junk. She was a] i=:o rc:nlJ1lc e r ned a bout sa ni tation, said people a r e du111ping th eir garbage ou t in th e back yard, s he a s ke d th a t pe ople s hould pl ease be ma de to ge t a nd use garba ge cans . She said there are house d with 3 r ooms and peopl e with 11 a nd 12 c hild re n a re living in t hem. They are c all e d o ne wa y ho uses , bec a use th ey have one way i n an d one way out . She s aid they w~nted sgme pl aces built f or t hese pe opl e to live wi th a pa rkin g s pace a nd s omewhe re f o r t~e c hild ren t o play , a nd def ini t ely no one way s bec a us e they are _ha zardso �-5There is a need for a red light at the corner of Whiteford Avenue and Lafra nce Street, other signs should be used also. Example (Slow-Children Playing). 10. MR S. RUTH FLEMISTER, 29 Daniel Street, S. E., Mrs. Flemister had her 16 year old daughter with her. She said she was operated on by Grady Hospital when she was 15 months old. She is now handicapped. Grady will not give her a card because they say her husband makes too much money, she said he is a common laborer and has 3 children to support She said she has been to other places to have her daughter treated, but they will not because Grady will not sign for it. 11. MRS. GEORGIA LISHE, 2170 Boulevard Drive, Mrs. Lishe was concerned with sanitation, she said a lot of the stores carried a terrible odor,and they keep a lot of old boxes out in front. Also teenage boys hanging around outside beer stores and breaking in people houses. needed at Ruckeford Street and Boulevard Avenue. A light is There has been several accidents at this site. 12. Mr. Joseph Finch, 1628 Foote Street, Apt. 7, Mr. Finch expressed the need for more recreational facilities. He said a YMCA should be organized so the teenagers will bave something to do. 13. MRS . LAURA W. NUNNALY, 1286 Fair Street , S. W. (left) 14. MR S. F. 'vJ . ARN OLD , 57 Raymond Street , S . W. (left) 15. REV. D.E. MY LES , 1361 Dupont Ave. s. E., Rev . Myles said he was happy to be at the meeting, that every body had touched on about everything he wanted to say but he would make a few remarks. He wa s concerned with wha t did it mean when people sp ok e of low-rent hou si ng? He said he was asked t o mov e from seve r al di ff ere nt plac es because he wa s making too much money to re main. But during these times he was sick and in the hospital a nd could no t work for quite a while. taxes in Fulton and Dekalb counties. He sa id he is paying At the Dupont and Whitefore Ave . sch ools, children are very dest r uctive, some thing should be done aboutit. He expressed a need for more Pol ice protection. He commen t ed on Mr. Lon g ' s remarks about the Liquor stores, and said the thing to do about them i s to boycott. He stated that some of these responsibilities lie at the people dooro • - • · : - •• • - - - - • .• 1 •• ' T "; ~ -- • · - · ··- ;--- - -· ·· - - •• - · ·· · ·· ···· · . . ···· - . -- - -- - �-6~ 16. PROF. JO HN DA VIS GAITHER, 1560 Fciote St., N.E., Mr, Gaither stated he was happy to be at the meeting. He said if we stayed until the midnight hour, the same problems would continue to come up. of the problems. Lightning He commented on some Atlanta was suppose to be one of the most lighted areas in the world, it is in certain parts, Ex. Peachtree Street. But, other areas are badly in need of light. Atlanta-Dekalb When you go to Atlanta to try and get something done, they tell y6u its in the jurisdiction of Dekalb County, and when you go to Dekalb, they send you to Atlanta. Police Protection tnere is one policeman on foot and when he goes to one area of his beat, people are doing what they want to on the other end, end vice versa. House Construction You can tell where a Negro live because of the way the house is constructed. Low-rent housing He said houses should be built up to present day standards. Mrs. Baker asked him when he referred to low rent housing, did he mean sub-divisions or government projects. Thomasville area. He said the kind that are in the Mrs. Baker said those houses are bought and not rented Prof. Gaither told the committee to take what hes been said and take it seriously, because the Edgewood-Kirkwood area is on the move. The question of what type of houses the people are trying to get was rei ntroduce d. It wa s decided that houses that comply with the Housing Cod e Enforcement. I t_ was pointed out that some of the houses the people were talk ing about were built before the housing code was in eff~ct. Mr. Douglas explai ned t hat the problems would be turned over to the pr op er departments. It was suggested that a specific resolution be prepared by the people of the neighborhood of the thi ngs that are wro ng . Mr. Long said these thi ngs had been reported 10 years ago and nothing has been done about them. Mr~ Douglas re pl ied by saying that this Commission has been establis hed to try and help t he people communicate with City Hall and see that these problems are solved . 17 9 MR . J AM ES COSBY , 1424 Lafrance St., N.E., Mr. Co s by stated that he was having t rouble with Real Es t ate Companies. Educ a ti onal pro gra ms. He was c oncerne a ab ou t He sa i d s omebody sh oul d be hi r ed t o tea c h the people in t he un de r priviledge a r eas ho w to liv e. �-718. Mrs. Charity Hill, 1514 Foote St., Mrs. Hill's concern was with lights, and street paving. She referred to Foote St., and Mason Avenue. She complained of the dust, she said gravel was put on the street but it only made things .worse. 19. MR . J. A. MCLAIN, 2079 Delano Dr., N.E. , Mr. McLain was concerned with rezoining of the Kirkwood area. Houses that had For Sale signs in front of them now have signs of rezoining for commercial use. He stated that we are trying to keep communities from going slum, but how can we when city hall is passing these laws. Mr. Doutlas stated he would get the city attorney to drqw up a list of what the city of Atlanta is responsible for. He stated that except for court house functions, most of the thnigs are concerned with the city of Atlanta. Mr. McLain said there shouid be enforcement of the various Codes, sanitary, housing, etc. · He said the Federal Appraisal System should ~belooked into. Mr . Douglas thanked the people for staying and suggested that the committee conduct a tour of the community and see some o~ the things the people are talking about. Mrs . Baker told the group the Commission would get a list of what Atlanta and DEKALB county is responsible for. Mr. Long thanked the committee for coming and said the community has been making some progress but that they still had a long way to go. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. ' l I .r �