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Admini ste ri ng the Demonstrat ion Ci ties Program i n Atl an ta Ia Rationale : The d raft prepar ed b y severa l a.g e nci es in conne ction wi th ' the Mayor's Director of Governmen t Liai son outlines the goals and steps by which Atlanta c an participate in tDe recently p a ss e d Model Citi es or Demon s tration Cities Act o f 1 966. What this statemen_t negl e c t s to outli n e is the me thodolo gy by which these goals and programs are to be acc omp lished. The i mplemen tation of this plan i s p erhapE! its most c ru ci a l c ompone n t . Pl ans ther e ar e in abundance. But t _h e skill f ul execution o f such pl ans r emains the k ey to eff e ctive act i on. That At l anta po sses th e fund amen tal reso ur c es it n eeds to meet the r equir eme nt s o f th e pemonstration Cities Plan is without doubt . What i s required i s l ess the c reat ion of new me ch anisms th an the effective h arnessing and , where necessary , the r eor i en ta.t ion o f tho se whi ch already exist. It i s p a ramount that the essentia l thrust of t he De11onstra.t ion Ci ties Program s hould be kept in rnind. It i s essentially d es igned to make a social i rnpac -t. on a low--i ncome neighborhood, br i nging to gether the tools of both phys ic a l and s o c i al plann i ng agencies. As such the coordination and i mp l ementat ion of the pl an should b e gin with thi s end in mind and, accordingly, build fro m th is b ase. �-2- As s u ch t he pl an c a l ls fo r an agenc y wh i ch c arr i e s b o t h t he c apacity and me a n s f or i nte gratin g social and physic a l plan ning functions.· The only age ncy wh ich is currently ge ar ed to mee t this n e ed in terms • of a c tion i s the Econ omic Op portuni ty At l anta Program. II. EOA & Demonstration Cities: On at le ast t wo· bases, if not all three , the Economic Oppor tunity Pr ogr am i~ uniquely equippe d t o condu ct the plan o f attack outlined in the d faft statement. Th e p l an c a ll s for Neighborhood Orqan i zat i on and Resident · · participation : In each of the targe~-~~i~hborh6ods delineat~d for the Demo ns~~ation Cities Program, EOA has developed we ll organized and function i ng neighborhood groups. Most of these have b een active l y i nvolved i n initiating planning act ivities fo r the Demonstration Cit ies Program . These n e ighborhood group s h ave made it possible f o r the first real " grass roots " l eadership to participate in pl anning community l ife. Every aspect o f the community is dealt ,~·ith, ·f rom employ- ment to education , housing to h ealth, recreation and aging. Secondly , the plan calls for the improvement of Health and Welfare and the phys ic a l renewa l of the area. In both in stances l ocal neighborhood comm i ttees have organized to survey needs and recommended programs. These neighborhood cowmittees stand ready to make their cont r ibution. �-3- F i nal l y , as t h e Act i s d es igne d to br i ng about the c oor dinat ion of agencies in an all-out attac k on the c ondit i o ns o f poverty , the fr amework o f the NeighJ?.Efrh o od Serv ice Ce nter progr am is s uch t h a t a Te c hn i ca l Adv i sory CoITLm i ttee is o rgan i ze d to prov ide t his a d de d and much needed res our c e . In review it can b e shown that the Nei'ghborhood Service Centers in the targe t Demonstration Cities Ar e a provide a r e ady · made we 1 1.:.:. o rgan i ze d forum for "grass ro ots participat ion," a mechani sm for attack and a b as e on wh ich addition a l program effort c an b e l a id. Pl an o f Attac k : III. It is , howeve r , not the contention of EOA that its pres e nt structure i s ent ire l y sufficient to meet this task a lone . Indee d , were it not f o r the fact t h at ma ny agenc i es h ave made their s erv ices availab l e from the outs e t would i t b e possib l e for EOA to have reached it s pres e nt stage o f evolution. far from the d es i red goal. It rea l izes it i s But it is on the r i ght road and hopes t his l atest effort (De mon itration Cities) will reinforce i ts rol e and future . There a r e some areas of n ee d wh ich g o b eyo n d the p resent structure and act i vities of the Ne i ghborhood Service Cent e rs . It r e ma in s o n ly to outline some of the s e to indicate the gap s which s hould b e clo sed wi t h a dditiona l p r o grams a nd p ersonne l. A. Pres e nt activities include : 1. Emp loyment - j ob p l acement, counse ling r eferra l s , t rai ning opportunit i es, et c . �-4- B. 2. Soci al Se rvic e s - multi-purpose n e eds (health, fami l y coun s e l i n g , day c ar e , aging, 'etc. ) 3. Education - comrnunity schools, adult education , e t c. 4. Hou s ing_ - relocation assis tance and hou s ing inf ormation Need Areas : 1. Economic infra-structures - businesses lend ing in s tituti~ns, commer ical e st ab l ishment , e tc. ·- . I V. 2. Social i nf r a - s truc tures -con1-rnun ity clu b s, r ecre at ion h a l l s , etc. 3. Phys ic a l i nfra-structures-roa ds, parks , etc. Imn l ementat i on: It i s r e c ommended th at these c enter s whi ch a r e loc a t ed in t h e Demons trat i on Ci t i e s Ar e a s h oul d b e merge d i nto a Demonstr a t i o n Ci t i es Pl a n n ing Task F o r c e . As s u ch they woul d b e f u n d e d through t he i nit i a l p l ann i ng grant wh i l e prov i d ing s erv i ces at t he s ame time . 'I 'hese c enter s would b e administered b y the Mayor ' s of f i ce u nder a De mons t rat i on Ci t i es Pr o j e c t Off icer who i s r e s pons i b l e to the Mayor. Although o ff ici a l l y responsible to the Mayor, these c enters wou ld continue t o operate under the administrative procedur es o f the l ocal CAA . The l ocal CAA , EOA , wou l d provide at leas t one coordinator from its office to that o f the Mayor ' s Demonstrat ion Ci ties Office. �-,;- -5- V. Evalu a tion: Under terms still unwr i tt e n an evaluation o f the Demonstration Ci ties Program, the Ne ighborhood Center Program and the coordina t ion of these activities would be undertak en by a local educationa l ins ti tut ion. Hope fu l _ly, this negotiation would le a d to a gre'ater , sustai ne d involve ment o f the academic c o~ u n h :y in urb an p r ob l e ms . I · I dea ll y, Atl anta Un i versity and ·Georgia State Co l lege a nd/or Emory Un i ver s i t y c ou l d fu l f ill t h i s n eed. �