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M. INU TES GRA N T REVIEW BOARD DE C EMBER 31, 1968 The City of Atlanta Grant Review Board met in the office of the Director of Governme ntal Liaison at 9:30 a. 1n. on D e cember 31, 1968, to review the Atlanta Model Cities Program a pplication to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Supple mental Funds. In attendance were: Dan Sweat, Director of Governmental Liaison, Chairman, Grant Revi ew Boar d Collier Gladin, Plann ing Director, Member, Grant Revil!W Board George Berry, Deput y Comptroller, M ember, Grant Review Board Johnny Johnson, Director of Model Cities Georg e Aldridge, Cit y Plann.er Carl Paul, Deputy Dir e ctor of Personne l Jay Fountain, Senio r Accountant The Grant Review Board d iscussed with Mr. Johnson s everal major points of concern, prima rily proc ed u res for approval by r esponsibl e City d epartments and agencies; adminis tr ative organization; and personnel requirements. In view of the complexities of the Model Cities Pr o gram and the need for full understanding by a ll responsible City officials, the following concensus of the Grant Review Board membership i s hereby presented: The Model Cities Program as establishe d by the President anc:f Congress of the United States is perhaps the most comprehensive and optimistic g.r ant-in-aid program ever offer ed to· America's cities. The concept and intent of the Model Cities Program is good. It provides for the legally responsible local governing authority to exercise its a utho rity and influence in demonstrating bold new technique s of urban planning and development. It provides maximum opportunity for real involvement and participation by citizens of neighborhoods in the planning and execution of programs which effect t heir daily lives. �Page Two And i t promotes coo rdination a m ong local, state and n ati onal agencies and departments of the limite d res ources which are available . The succe s s ful planning and exe cution of a J\1odel Cities . Program c a n be a valuable e x perience for any city in its search for orderl y and time ly solutions to its multitud e of urban problems. Atlant a's City Demons tration Agency ha s attempted to meet the challenge and intent of th.e Mod e l Cities l e gi s lation . Citizens of all six n e ighborhood areas encompassed by Atlanta's Modd Cities Program were active ly involved in organi z ing and plannin g for Mod e l Ci~ies more than a year i n advance of t h e beginning of the City' s formal planning stage. Local, sta t e a nd fe d e r a l publi c age ncies a nd nume r o u s private g roups p a rticipate d in th e pr e p aration of the r e quire d pl a nni n g g r a nt applic a tion. The Mayor and Boa rd of Alder men endors e d and suppo r t e d the planning effort. T h e M od e l Cities p l anning s t aff worked l ong and h ar d t o prep a r e the d ocum ent s necessary for s u ccessful f u nding of th e fi.rst year pro gram . The final do c u ments d e t ai l a b old a nd innovative pla n of attack o n the m ajo r p roblem areas i n the M o de l Cities n e i g hbo r h ood . T h e ~.fo d el Cities staff h a s made an adm i rabl e a t temp t to live u p to t h e conce2t o f t he M od e l Cities pr o gram. T o a great extent they have m e t b oth t h e needs and wishes of the citizens o f the area and t h e requi reme nts o f planning a nd a dmi nistrati on o f the City and federal governme nts . The Mode1 Cities Program al so places o n ail City departments and agencies the requirement for cooperation, coordination and approval of pro gram components. There are indications that thi s requir ement h as not b e en met . Where it has not done so, each department and agency is obliga ted to ·review and pass on the specific components of th e program which assigns execution responsibility to that department. Each committee of the Board of Aldermen should review and approve/disapprove each program component which falls within the responsibility and authority of the committee. The Planning and Development Committee should exe.rcise its responsibility for overall planning of the city by reviewing the Mod e l Cities plan and making �Page Three the determination a s t o the compatibility of the Model Ci.t ie s Program with overall city plans . The Finance Committe e should determine the financia l fea s i bility of the program and the capa bility of the City to meet the require m e nts placed upon it by the progr am . The full Board of Al de rmen should carefully consider the priorities inv olved in the Model Cities e x ecution, its impact c;n the ar ea se r v e d and the entire . city as _well. The Grant Review Board believes. these approvals should b e given before Aldermanic sanction is granted. We feel that if the p r ov1 s 10ns of the Model Cities applic ation ar e und e rstood and accepte d b e fo r e final a pprova l is gr ant e d a muc h stro n ge r prog r a m V{ill result. It should be und e r sto o d that this is not inte nde d a s critici sm of th e plann ing gra n t document o r the w ork o f t he M o d e l C i ties s t a ff, b ut is an effort to g a in f ull unders t a nding a n d s u pport o f the s t r _ongest p rogr a m in th e b es t inte r es t o f a ll citizen s o f Atl anta. It i s therefore recommended tha t the Mayor a n d Board of Alde rmen r e qui r e writt en a c cepta n ce or denial of ea ch com ponent of the M o de l Citie s pl an by the d epartments and age ncies r e sp ons ib l e fo r the e x ecu t i on of each c o mponent b ~fore final approva l o f t h e gra n t a pplicat i o n i s g i ven. Ctairma n DS:fy ?,).· ~AC~ ~ 1,\\ G e o rge '.~err , M emb e~ ~JSz~ C)'J&,~~ Collier G l adin, Member r tJ: ~ &.,,__'\A.-v-tt-ce E. H. Underwood, Member • • . - -· �