.NzY3Nw.NzY3Nw

June 6, 1967 ~e Mayor's City Job Opportunities Committee convened at 3:00 p. m. Tuesday, June 6, 1967, in Committee Room No. 2, City Hall. The following were present: Milton G. Farris, Chairman Carl Paul (representing Carl T. Sutherland) Ray A. Nixon Paul Weir Robert D. Speer (representing s. w. Graydon) Q. v. Williamson s. Messrs. were absent. W. Graydon and Clarence D. Coleman, members, Mr. Paul Weir, General .Manager of the Water De- partment, was appointed to the Commi ttee to fill the vacancy created by Mr. s. w. Graydon, who will be retiring next month. A letter to Mr-. J . J . Little, Clerk of the Board of Aldermen, from Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr . asking Mr. Little to advise the Board of Aldermen of Mr • .Weir~s appointment is attached to and made a part of thes~ minutes. After calling the meeting to order , Milton G. Farris , I Chairma n , asked Carl Pau l, Deputy Director of Personne l , for a report f r om the Pe rsonnel De p a rtmen t on its activit ie s and a s ked I that a copy of a l e t ter sent t o t he Mayo r f rom the Atlan ta summit teadorehip Conference be obtained. Next , Mr. Paul read a list of the classifications in which Negroes occupy positions. This list is attache d to and - - - -~ ~ -- - --- ----r ... ~!"\1 - - - --- - x r;:i,ol - - - ~ ( ' ()p • y �' . ' _ , I ' I • • -21 made a part of these minutes. Mr. Farris asked if there were any stenographer positions occupied by Negroes~ Mr. Paul re- plied, "There are none, but we do have some Negroes in typist positions." Q. V. Williamson stated, "Our problem in getting good people in the City jobs is the Personnel Department -- the way the people are treated down there." He also said that he had a complaint from his daughter who went to the Personnel Department to apply for Junior Accountant. Williamson said that his daughter was told by a lady in the Personnel office that probably she didn't want to take the examination for Junior Accountant and that she should go back to the board to find some other type of position f or which she would like to apply. Mr. P a ul said h e was not trying to refute what Mr. Williamson had said, but he e x plained that the 1girl in Personnel probably meant for his daughter 1to go over to t he board which contains t he announceI ments of t h e classi f icat i ons in which p o s ition s are v·acant t o see if s h e met the minimum r e quireme nts for the po s ition for I which she was a p plying. Mr . Paul al s o a dde d t hat he had t alked to l-1 1:' . Sutherland about this particular i n cident and that Mr. I $ uthe:rland indicated that the girl d id n o t me e t the minimum re- ' cJUi tenle nte for the position for which she was applying. --~

Mr. �;. ., "' • • · • ... l . ... -3Paul said i t was his understanding that the girl was very insistent in saying that she wanted to take the examination, for Junior Accountant, though she did not meet the requirements for that classification. Mr. Farris then related an incident that took place in one of the Atlanta Public Libraries. He said that he and some others went to the Library and that they were "treated like dogs". He said he told those in charge at the Library that if the situation didn 1 t change that they would have to get some new people~ Mr. Farris said that if such a situation existed i I in the Personnel Department that i t had better change. Mr. Paul said that if it did exist, he was not aware of it. Q. v. Williamson said that what he thinks the City needs is a recruiter to recruit people and to let the Negroes know that they can quali,f y for and get these better jobs. When Mr. Farris asked Mr. Paul if the Personnel Department has a recruito r , Mr. Paul said that the Personne l Department does have a recruit er who goes out and tries to recruit people. Next, Mr. Paul read a list of eligible registers, a copy o .f which is attached to and made a part of these minutes, which i1101l1des Negroes in the top three on the individual registers, poitrt~ing o u t that at the time the lists were made up the r e we re -/~ Rot--- - - - - - - ~ - - ~ - - t" OfUY �., , o I , , -4no vacancies. He said that the Personnel Department ·spends money in many professional magazines, trade journals, and newspapers in advertising for applicants for vacant positions. Mr. Farris said that as long as advertising was used instead of a recruiter that the City would never get people. He also stated, "I think what we need to do for this Committeei-s information so that we can keep up with what we are doing that the Personnel Department ought to set up a record to show how many people they have examined, how many were White and Negr~, how many passed the tests, how many were sent to the department heads for interview, and how many were employed,." Mr. Paul said that the Personnel Department is making some progress, particularly in promotions. He said, "Two years ago the Negro would have been afraid to have applied in the first place, but now , they are being appointed into these positions." , He also stated that the Personnel Department has a Training 1 Coordinator, Mr. Farrow, who is setting up a training .program to train people in the City government so that they can I qualify for promotion. Mr. Nixon added that he and Mr. Farrow h a.d set up a program f o r the Construction Department and the Sa.nita.ry Department laborers in which all who were interested itl l e rning to operate a truck or equipment could participate. I Next, Mr. Williamson made the following statement: "There . >l17'RO r' Qpy ~ ()p,1y �-5are five departments that I know of that have made considerable progress in this thing -- Firer Police, Construction, Sanitary, and Comptroller. I think the Water Department can do more. •l Mr. Farris read the letter sent to the Mayor by the Atlanta Summit Leadership Conference and referred each request that was made in . the letter to the proper persons . A copy of this letter is attached to and made a part of these minutes. He also added, "I think the City has done a very creditable job in absorbing Negroes in its departments in the City government. Paul (Mr~ Weir), I have had some criticism of the Water Department." vestiga;te.11 Mr. Weir answered saying, "We will certainly inQ. V. Williamson said that Mr. Weir could help out a lot by employing a Negro to work in the Water Department on the first floor of City Hall. He said that most of the Negroes who go to City HaB. never go beyond the first floor and that if they could see a Negro working there on the first floor, it would get a lot of people "off his back" ., Mr. Weir mentioned the fact that the Water Department has several Negroes out in the f ield, and also he stated that "If we can get a qualified Negto , the n we will put them in there." Mr. Farris asked Mr. Wi l :l.i tuna on to report to the Atlant a Summit Leadership Con- fe . ~ce o n the items that concerned the Job Opportunities Com1 mitt: e, ~ - - - -- ~ - ~ w~, L..._, - -- ~~ - -- l c'o~v ~ ,.. �r i,,• '. ' . . ·. ; ... ,' '.. ' I I, -6· There being no further business~ the meeting was declared adourned. Respectfully submitted, CARL PAUL Acting Secretary I • cbt ~our (4) Attachments r' I ll ,.l �