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MINUTES
HUMAN RELATIONS COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 29, 1966
Members of the Human Relations Committee met at City Hall on Thursday;
September 29, 1966, at 11:00 a.m. with the following members present;
Alderman Rodney Cook
Alderman Richard Freeman
Mr. Charles Hart
Alderman Charles Leftwich
Vice Mayor Sam Massell, Jr., Acting Chairman
Alderman Everett Millican
Mrs. Eliza Paschall
Mr. Bennie T. Smith
Rev. Samuel W. Williams
Also present were:
Mr. Dan E. Sweat
Director of Governmental Liaison
Mr. Jim Pilcher
City Attorney's Office
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Massell and the first order of
business was the election of officers for the Committee. Upon motions
duly made, seconded and passed, the following officers were elected:
Mr. Sam Massell, Jr., Chairman
Rev. Samuel W. Williams, Vice Chairman
The Committee then reviewed the draft ordinance for the establishment
of a human relations commission and the following actions were taken:
Section 1; Upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, it was agreed
the commission should be called the Community Relations Commission.
Upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, it was agreed that seven (7)
members of the total of twenty (20) members should constitute a quorum
rather than ten (10) members as called for in the draft.
It was agreed that the phrase ''membership shall include representation
of all segments of the City" be included in this section.
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Section 2: Approved as submitted.
Section 3: Approved as submitted.
Section 4: Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously passed,
sub-section (d) was amended to read as follows: ''To investigate, discourage
and seek to prevent discriminatory practices against any individual because
of race, color, creed, religion, national origin or ancestry. "'
Section 5: The first sentence was amended to read as follows: ''The
commission shall, with the approval of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen,
employ an executive director, and the Mayor and Board of Aldermen
shall fix his compensation. "'
The last sentence was amended to read as follows: ''He may, with the
Mayor's approval and within the limits of the budget of the commission,
employ such staff as he needs, and the executive director shall fix the
compensation of such staff subject to the approval of the Personnel Board
of the City of Atlanta."
Section 6: Approved as submitted,
Section 7: Approved as submitted.
Section 8: The first sentence was amended to read as follows: ''The
services of all other departments of the City of Atlanta shall be made
available to the commission upon its request for such services subject
to the extent of the personnel that they have, "'
The second sentence was amended to read as follows: ''Information in
the possession of any department, board, or agency of the City of
Atlanta shall be furnished to the commission upon its request, and to
the extent permitted by law and based on the ability of the department,
board or agency to provide such information, "'
Section 9: This section was amended to read as follows: ''The Mayor
is authorized to allocate adequate office space and to provide the necessary
facilities in the City Hall for said commission if the office space and
facilities are available or to secure space as convenient to the City
Hall as possible."
Section 10: Approved as submitted.
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Section 11: Approved as submitted.
Upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, it was agreed to adda
separate section (Section 12) to the ordinance to provide subpoena power
for investigative purposes, The wording of this section will be left to
the City Attorney's Office.
é
There being no further discussion on this matter, it was agreed that the
ordinance, as amended, be submitted to the Board of Aldermen at their
regular meeting on Monday, October 3. In order for this commission to
be a charter commission, it will be necessary for the ordinance to be
submitted to the Board of Aldermen three times.
The Resolution establishing the Human Relations Committee called for
the Committee to submit recommendations concerning membership of
the Commission. Mr. Massell appointed the following committee to
submit such recommendations to the Human Relations Committee for
consideration:
Mrs, Eliza Paschall, Chairman
Alderman Rodney Cook
Mr. Bennie T. Smith
Mrs. Dorothy B. Thompson
Rev. Samuel W. Williams
Concerning the matter of the budget of the Commission, Alderman Millican
suggested this not be set until the permanent Commission is appointed
so that it can consider the budgetary requirements. Alderman Leftwich
and Alderman Millican were appointed as a committee of two to bring the
matter to the attention of the Comptroller and the Finance Committee of
the Board of Aldermen that at a future date a request for funds for this
Commission will be forthcoming.
In reviewing the minutes of the previous meeting, it was noted that
Aldermen Cook, Freeman and Millican and Mr. Bennie Smith should
be added to the list of members present. It was asked that the minutes
be corrected to include these names.
Mr. Hart inquired if this committee could make recommendations to the
department heads and, if so, suggested the Board of Education be asked
to work with Economic Opportunity Atlanta, Inc. to establish a program to
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keep the school libraries open in the evenings. This was discussed but
it was felt this could be more effectively handled under the direction of
the permanent Commission,
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The next
meeting will be scheduled after Mrs. Paschall's committee completes
its recommendations.