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OFF ICERS James IV. Dorsey Presid ent Ferdinand Buc kl ey 1st Vice Pres iden t Sarah Frances ~lcDonald 2nd Vice Pres ident Clifford Oxf ord Sec reta ry Wil li am H. Alexander Tre csure r ATLA NTJ..\ L E GA L A.iD S OCI E TY, I NC . TELE PHONE'S : (•10 4) 524-5 8 11 (40 4 ) 5 77- 5 2G O 1 53 P R Y OR STRC ET, 5. W. ATL AN T A , G EO R GIA 30303 Ma rch 6th, 1969 STAF F Mi chae l D. Pad nos Direc tor Nancy S. Cheves General Counse l Richard Harri s Community Education L. Ross er She lton Virgini a A. Sips Bettye H. Kehrer Evelyn S. Fabian Eugena S. Tay lor John VI . Brent E!mer L. Nash Larry B. Hooks D. Freema n ll utton Cynth ia T. Beattie Melvin E. Thompson , Jr. Mi chae l H. Terry Edwa rd L. Baety Willi am J. Brennon, Jr. George Hol'le ll Sond ra Gold enfa rb Reube n Buss ey Kendric Smith Honorable Ivan Allen, Jr., Mayor, The City of Atlanta City Hall, 68 Mitchell Street, S. W., Atl anta , Georgi a 30303 Dear Mayor Allen: As you may know, our client TUFF and the Southern Chris ti an Leadership Confe rence jointly sponsored a mass meeting at the Carver Homes Community Center on March 4th to protest the policies of the Atlanta Housing Authority. Appr o x imate ly 750 people attended the meeting, and I think I am safe in saying that every single one of these people had a specific complaint against the Atlanta Housing Authority. Seven weeks ago, on January 16th,TUFF presented to the Board of the Atlanta Housing Authority a "Tenants' Bill of Rights" which, :..f adopted, would go far towards alleviating many of the tenants' complaints. (The Bill of Rights has been endorsed by such di.verse groups as Good Gover nment Atlanta and Metropolitan Atlanta Sum..~it Leadership Conference.) From January 16th to today we have had no response from the housing authority on the subject of that Bill of Rights; and judging by Mr. Attridge's irrespons ible denigration of a laws uit recently filed by this offic e against the Atlanta Housing Authority as "harrassment", and Mr. Satte rfield's recent attempt to block Lega l Aid' s funding, we would be foolish to expect voluntary action from the Atlanta Housing Authority on this or on any othe r matter de signe d to benefit tenants. The r efus al of the Atlanta Housing Authority to r espond to the l eg itimate demands of t enants can only ha rm o ur city, for as you will see from ~he enclosed copy of Dr. Abe r na thy's r emarks l ast night, the tenants are b eginning to escalate their de m~nds . I . SPONSO R ED 8'( U N I TE D APP E ,\L A N D E CO N O l,JIC O P PORT U N IT Y ATL AN T A , l!'-JC. �.I Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr., March 6th, 1969 Page #2 . If we continue along the present road the Atlanta Housing Authority and TUFF will find themse lves on a collision course . When TUFF first demonstrated early in November at the Marriott Hotel, you offered to use your good offices to help the tenants with their problems. On other occasions Messrs. Sweat and Robinson of your office have re-affirmed their s upport of TUFF and its rightful de mands . In my opinion it is now urgent that you intervene Unless the tenan-l: s are granted s ome relie f from the arbitrary policies of the housing authority , and unless the y are give n some power to control their own lives , the present conflict will deepen, and, I fear, broaden. May I implore you to join with TUFF, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Atl anta Legal Aid Society in seeking a fair solution to the problems of tena nts in Atlanta public hous ing. in this matter on behalf of the tenants. Sincerely, htttai{ gtc~ Michae l D. Padn o s Director MDP/cj ,;Enclosure . �