Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
16987750
label
Community Development (2)
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
16987750
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
Community Development (2)
citationUrl
collections
James M. Cannon Files (Ford Administration)
James Cannon's Issues Files
subjects
Ethnic groups
Federal aid
Housing
Local government
Urban policy
iiifBase
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
16987750
coverageEndDate
logicalDate
1976-09-30
month
9
year
1976
coverageStartDate
logicalDate
1976-02-01
month
2
year
1976
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
url
mediaId
c089df409408c15c
ocrText
The original documents are located in Box 8, folder "Community Development (2)" of the
James M. Cannon Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
U
Hrusing-Communty Housing Community Development
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
INFORMATION
May 11, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR JIM CANNON
FROM:
LYNN MAY him 2
SUBJECT:
Proposed New York Neighborhood
Self-Help Assistance Center
I have forwarded the attached proposal to appropriate
personnel in HUD for review and comment.
Attachment
we
Upm given
can
but you judguant There
you'reant any Whether possibility
muting
5
FORD
OLD GERALD
LIBRARY is
Digitized from Box 8 of the James M. Cannon Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
CITIZENS
COMMITTEE FOR NEW YORK CITY, INC.
345 Park Avenue. New York. New York 10022/(212) 593-9620
Chairman, Osbom Elliott
Executive Director, Dennis Allee
April 23, 1976
Dear Jim:
It was great to see you the other day in Washington,
and I much appreciate your interest in our Citizens Committee
for New York City, Inc. I hope that we can get together
either here or there on May 7th or some other day soon.
In the meantime, here is some material on the
Committee's latest proposal for a Neighborhood Self-Help
Assistance Center. As I mentioned to you, our main focus is
to help New Yorkers help each other and their city through
these difficult times, and we are absolutely convinced that
there is a huge reservoir of talent and energy that can be
tapped for this cause. In fact, we have already generated
more than 5,000 inquiries from volunteers who want to help the
city, and are willing to work in various service areas for free.
But we think that the real strength lies in New
York's neighborhoods and its 10,000 block associations,
which is what the enclosed proposal addresses itself to.
As Dennis Allee's memo notes, he has already been in touch
with some Federal agencies, seeking assistance. We've just
been advised by the Federal Regional Council that, while it
thinks the proposal has considerable merit, it has no funds
at the regional level to support it. Can the Domestic Council
find funds in Washington for experimental or demonstration
purposes?
Anything you can do to advance this project would
of course be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks and all the best,
Mr. James A. Cannon,
oy
Executive Director,
Domestic Council,
The White House,
Washington, D. C.
Enclosures
REGIONAL
REGION II
as - F41
FEDERAL
COUNCIL
FEDERAL REGIONAL COUNCIL
26 FEDERAL PLAZA
April 21, 1976
SUITE 3541
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10007
(212) 264-8068
Mr. Dennis H. Allee
Executive Director
Citizens Committee for New York City,
CHAIRMAN:
Incorporated
S. WILLIAM GREEN
345 Park Avenue
Regional Administrator
New York, N.Y. 10022
Department of Housing
and Urban Development
Dear Mr. Donnes Allee:
MEMBERS:
ROGER BABB
We have received the two preliminary proposals you
Regional Representative
Department of Interior
submitted to the Federal Regional Council for
possible demonstration project funding.
BERNICE L. BERNSTEIN
Regional Director
Department of Health
The proposals have been circulated to our membership
Education and Welfare
for review and comment. Although the proposals appear
STEPHEN D. BLUM
to be of considerable merit we have received negative
Regional Director
Department of Labor
funding responses from the FRC agencies. One agency,
the Department of Health, Education and Welfare is
BAYARD S. FORSTER
Secretarial Representative
responding to your office directly.
Department of Transportation
GERALD M. HANSLER
We are sorry that we cannot offer funding assistance
Regional Administrator
to implement these projects.
Environmental Protection Agency
and FRC Vice-Chairman
ALFRED KLEINFELD
Regional Administrator
Federal Energy Administration
Sincerely, Zill
MICHAEL J.A. LONERGAN
Regional Representative
S. William Green
Department of Agriculture
Chairman, Federal Regional Council
MICHAEL A. McMANUS
Secretarial Representative
Department of Commerce
JULES TESLER
Regional Administrator
Jaw Enforcement
Assistance Administration
WILLIAM A. WHITE
Acting Regional Director
Community Services Administration
ESTELLE GUZIK
Staff Director
212-264-0723
New Jersey
New York
Puerto Rico
Virgin Islands
March 12, 1976
Hon. S. William Green
Regional Administrator
Region II
Department of Housing and Urban
Development
26 Federal Plaza
New York, New York 10007
Dear Bill:
I enclose two preliminary proposals prepared by the Citizens
Committee for New York City, Inc. entitled:
(1) Assistance to New York City's Community Boards in
Carrying Out Their Service Monitoring and Citizen
Information Duties under the New City Charter; and
(2) Neighborhood Self-Help Assistance Center.
The Citizens Committee would appreciate it very much if you
would submit the proposals to the Regional Council for their
consideration as possible demonstration or experimental projects.
The first proposal, relating to the City's Community Boards, has
been developed in conjunction with Victor Marrero, Chairman
of the City Planning Commission. The second proposal relates
to the overall program being developed by the Citizens Committee
to involve New Yorkers in self-help projects in their communities.
I also enclose a brief description of the Citizens Committee
and a copy of the detailed program announced jointly by the
Committee and the City Administration on February 24, 1976 to
involve citizens in volunteer and community service projects to
help the City during the fiscal crisis.
Best regards,
Dennis H1 Allee
Executive Director
CITIZENS
COMMITTEE FOR NEW YORK CITY, INC.
345 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022/(212) 593-9620
Chairman, Osborn Elliott
Executive Director, Dennis Allee
TO:
Oz Elliott
April 19,1976
FROM: Dennis Allee
Neighborhood Self-Help Assistance Center
I enclose a copy of the revised proposal for a self-help assist-
ance center to encourage and assist service-related projects in
New York City based on the voluntary action of citizens at the neigh-
borho7d level.
The proposal reflects the minimum professional support required
to effectively sustain a major self-help effort in a city the size of
New York. In fact, based on our experience to date, a one million
dollar budget for a two year effort to involve tens of thousands of
New Yorkers in community self-help programs would be more realistic.
The planning, organization, support and dissemination of information
about self-help activities in service areas devastated by budget
cuts--parks, senior citizens, health, housing and neighborhood preserva-
tion, education and security -- is an enormous task, one which requires
a solid base of professional expertise to succeed.
In March I submitted a preliminary prospectus for the neighborhood
self-help assistance center to William Green, Regional Administrator
of HUD with the request that it be considered for possible endorsement
by the Federal Regional Council for Region II. Copies were also sent
to Bernice Bernstein of HEW; Andy White of CSA and Dominic Massaro of
ACTION. * In doing so, it was my hope that the Federal Regional Council
would help to secure multi-agency support of the center from experi-
mental or demonstration funds available in Washington. In other words,
the proposal is ideally suited for modest support from several federal
agencies because it calls for self-help specialists in a variety of
different service areas. To date, I have heard nothing from the Regional
Council.
It is my judgment that if we could obtain federal support for a
two year pilot project at the scale contemplated--and supplement this
with foundation funding, we would be able to lay the groundwork for
major and important self-help initiatives in New York City to ease the
impact of cutbacks in municipal services over the next five years.
* Senators Javits and Buckley also received copies.
ERALD
- 2 -
Certainly, federal funding of a catalytic program to promote self-help
in New York would be a sound investment from an economic standpoint.
Another inevitable benefit of the center would be the encouragement
of badly needed citizen forums to make city agencies more accountable
for their expenditures and performance at the local level.
files
March 15, 1976
Hon. James L. Buckley
17 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Buckley:
I enclose two preliminary proposals of the Citizens Committee for
which federal assistance is sought as demonstration or experimental
projects.
The first requests $800,000 for a two year project to help New
York City's Community Boards assume their new service planning,
service monitoring and citizen information programs under the
new City Charter.
The second requests $600,000 for a two year project to provide
the Citizens Committee with community self-help specialists in
seven service areas and five borough coordinators to organize
self-help groups and programs.
Both proposals were delivered to Bill Green on Friday, March 12,
with a request that they be submitted for review to the Federal
Regional Council.
Any guidance you can provide as to possible sources of support in
Washington would be greatly appreciated by the Committee.
Sincerely yours,
Dennis H. Allee
enclosers
Executive Director
files
March 15, 1976
Hon. Jacob K. Javits
321 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Javits:
I enclose two preliminary proposals of the Citizens Committee
for which federal assistance is sought as demmnstration or
experimental projects.
The first requests $800,000 for a two year project to help New
York City's Community Boards assume their new service planning,
service monitoring and citizen information programs under the
new City Charter.
The second requests $600,000 for a two year project to provide
the Citizens Committee with community self-help specialists in
seven service areas and five borough coordinators to organize
self-help groups and programs.
Both proposals were delicered to Bill Green on Friday, March 12,
with a request that they be submitted for review to the Federal
Regional Council.
Any guidance you can provide as to păssible sources of support in
Washington would be greatly appreciated by the Committee.
With warm regards,
comes
Dennis H. Allee
Executive Director
CITIZENS
COMMITTEE FOR NEW YORK CITY, INC.
345 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022/(212) 593-9620
Chairman, Osborn Elliott
Executive Director, Dennis Allee
Neighborhood Self-Help Assistance Center
This proposal seeks support for a Neighborhood Self-Help
Assistance Center to be sponsored by the Citizens Committee for New
York City, Inc. The center's purpose will be to involve the resi-
dents and instituions of New York City in programs of self-help*
in their communities during the fiscal crisis to ease the impact of
cutbacks in municipal services. Funding at an annual level of
$385,000 is requested for the following:
(1) Seven service specialists equipped to assist local groups
in the planning, organization and implementation of self-help
projects. These specialists will be assigned to the following
service areas:
- security and safety
- sanitation and the environment
- senior citizens
- housing and neighborhood preservation
- parks and beautification
- youth and recreation
- health, education and consumer affairs
(2) Five borough coordinators to organize local self-help groups
*"Self-help," for purposes of this proposal, means programs of
voluntary action, related to basic services, that citizens can
undertake in their neighborhoods.
in
FORD
GERALD
2.
and projects; to develop educational programs and hold work-
shops for community groups; to mobilize volunteers and enlist
the cooperation of City agencies for self-help activities; and
to help identify local resources in support of projects;
(3) Support specialists for community self-help programs, in-
cluding communications and resource identification experts and
block association organizers;
(4) Special projects supportive of community self-help, in-
cluding informational pamphlets on self-help projects in speci-
fic areas, a directory of projects and where to obtain assis-
tance, and special conferences, workshops and other events to
promote and publicize neighborhood self-help.
Description of Citizens Committee
The Citizens Committee for New York City, Inc. was formed
during the fall of 1975 to channel the energies and talents of con-
cerned New Yorkers into constructive programs of assistance to the
City during the fiscal crisis. The Committee is a non-profit corpora-
tion with a non-partisan charter membership of 300 persons drawn from
all segments of the New York City community.*
The involvement of New Yorkers from all five boroughs in self-
help activities to preserve and develop their own neighborhoods --
in the face of devastating cuts in municipal services -- is a major
program objective defined by the Citizens Committee.
*The Committee is in the process of being expanded to approximately
500 members. A brief description is enclosed as Attachment A.
3.
Specifically, the Committee seeks to encourage the formation
of new self-help groups at the neighborhood level and to enlist
them in service related, self-help projects. It views its role as
that of a catalyst: to inform and educate New Yorkers about the
potential for community self-help to fill service gaps and to assist
local groups in planning specific self-help programs. The Committee
itself will not operate direct service programs.
Operating with a small paid staff and volunteers, the Committee
has begun to develop informational projects in furtherance of its.
community self-help objectives, including:
- "Lend A Hand" literature on block associations and self-
help sanitation projects;
- Resource directory of exemplary self-help projects and how
to organize them;
- Block association fair and conference for 2,500 groups to be
held on May 14, 1976;
- Community self-help conference for high school students to
be held on May 20, 1976;
- An ongoing communications campaign to highlight successful
neighborhood self-help groups and projects;
- Special projects to encourage block associations, schools,
churches, senior citizens, youth groups, businesses and civic
groups to undertake self-help projects;
- Special self-help programs with City departments, including
a "Lend a Hand for a Cleaner New York" campaign with the Sani-
tation Department, announced on April 12, 1976;
&
FORD
GERALD
4.
- A community self-help fund (privately funded) to assist and
publicize outstanding self-help projects in various service
categories.
These and other projects, in planning or underway, have a
central theme: to generate information about the concept of self-
help in order to involve citizens -- in vastly increased numbers ---
in voluntary programs to help maintain the quality of life in City
neighborhoods.
Need for Neighborhood Self-Help Assistance Center
In addition to informational projects, the Citizens Committee
believes that, to have a significant impact, it must be able to pro-
vide local neighborhoods with specialized assistance in the planning
and formation of self-help groups and service projects. To do this,
it needs to develop expertise in service areas with potential for
citizen involvement.
New York City is in for hard times during the next five to
ten years. For fiscal year 1975 - 1976 a reduction in the City's
budget of $200 million is being carried out under the financial plan
approved by the State Emergency Financial Control Board, and impor-
tant municipal services have already been adversely affected. Bud-
get cuts of $379 million are projected for the fiscal year beginning
July 1, 1976, and $442 million in cuts are called for in fiscal year
1977 - 1978. These reductions will have severe consequences for the
quality and quantity of many vital services, and huge service gaps
are expected.
5.
Faced with this prospect, the citizens of New York City -- in
affluent and poor neighborhoods -- will either have to devise al-
ternative ways to provide services or do without them. Realization
of this fact was manifested by the City Administration on February
24, 1976, when Mayor Beame and the Citizens Committee announced a
three-pronged plan* to involve the people of New York in programs to
help the City provide services that can no longer be supported at
current levels because of fiscal austerities imposed by the three-
year financial plan, to wit
- programs using part-time volunteers in City departments to
supplement and support the work of civil servants;
- service related programs of community self-help undertaken
by citizens in their own neighborhoods; and
- mobilization of the financial and human resources of the
City's business community, churches, schools and other insti-
tutions in support of self-help programs to sustain selected
services decimated by budget cuts.
The first prong of the overall program - recruitment of volun-
teers for City cepartments -- is underway and over 1,000 volunteers
have already been recruited to work in City funded service programs
through a sustained communications campaign spearheaded by the Citi-
zens Committee.
Modest financial support to enable the Citizens Committee to
assist local self-help groups organize volunteer projects in their
neighborhoods would be a sound investment at this critical juncture
for the City.
*A copy of the plan is annexed as Attachment B.
6.
Currently, no other city-wide organization is addressing the
fundamental issue of community self-help based on the voluntary
action of citizens as partial relief for the City's deep-seated
fiscal problems. Some groups, such as the Committee in the Public
Interest, have concerned themselves with the City's image. Others,
such as the Community Council's Task Force on the New York City
Crisis, seek to articulate service priorities in the face of a pro-
longed period of diminishing resources; and still other groups, such
as the Mayor's Voluntary Action Center, are coordinating with the
Citizens Committee to expand the City's centralized volunteer pro-
grams. But no city-wide group, aside from the Citizens Committee,
is grappling with the following:
1. How to infuse part-time volunteers into programs of City
departments at the community level that have been crippled
by budget cuts; and how to sensitize City bureaucracies and
civil servants to the local use of volunteers in supportive
roles on a vastly expanded scale;
2. How to mobilize block associations and other neighbor-
hood groups to undertake service related, self-help projects;
and how to provide them with incentives to sustain projects
over a period of time;
3. How to recruit volunteers locally for community self-
help projects;
4. How to develop an information network to publicize out-
standing self-help projects as models for others to follow;
and how to enlist successful self-help groups to educate and
assist others;
7.
5. How to marshall private resources of corporations and
foundations in support of the modest needs of local groups in
carrying out self-help projects;
6. How to enlist the active backing and support of the City's
unique and varied local interest groups (block associations,
churches, civic groups, merchants, fraternal associations, etc.)
for community self-help programs; and
7. How to raise public consciousness about the long range
value and potential of community self-help for the City's morale,
sense of "community" and image.
The Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS) is beginning
to develop a role in the area of self-help through its thirty-
four field offices, but its ability to serve as the catalyst for
a major thrust in this area is severely limited by lack of re-
sources, an overburdened staff, limited managerial capacity, and
other assignments (such as administering the City's youth services
component recently shifted to ONS). The Citizens Committee,
through its proposed Neighborhood Self-Help Assistance Center,
hopes to fill this void.
Specific Features of Center
The Neighborhood Self-Help Assistance Center is the corner-
stone of the Committee's efforts to mobilize New Yorkers to help
themselves in their own neighborhoods. Some specific features of
the Center include:
A. Service Specialists
The Neighborhood Self-Help Assistance Center will be comprised
of a small, professional cadre of service specialists equipped
8.
to assist local groups in developing self-help programs in a number
of important service areas. These specialists will support the
Committee's five borough coordinators.
Currently, the Committee has staff members doubling in parks
and sanitation, and lesser degrees of staff and volunteer speciali-
zation for cultural institutions, economic development, housing,
criminal justice, schools and select social services.
This self-help expertise needs to be expanded in the following
areas:
*
(1) Security and Safety. This is perceived by many as
the City's number one problem and there is widespread public
interest in citizens' programs for neighborhood security and
safety. Many programs are already sponsored by the Police
Department (there are 203 civilian radio patrols, 5,300 auxiliary
police, and 21,000 block watchers) and entire communities -- the
Rockaways and central Harlem, for two examples -- are mobilizing
to combat crime locally through self-help programs. Because
of the great potential for more programs, ** special expertise is
needed to plan self-help security programs with local groups;
to provide them with "how to" educational material and informa-
tion; to work out cooperative relationships with the Police
Department and other law enforcement agencies; and to locate
private resources to buttress self-help efforts.
*Only brief summaries of the service area and need for expertise
are provided. The kinds of specific self-help projects for which
assistance is needed are listed in Attachment C.
**The Citizens Committee believes, for example, that the civilian
car patrol program could be trebled in one year with proper
planning and the availability of civilian band radios.
9.
In related criminal justice areas, expertise is needed in
the development of self-help programs supportive of rehabili-
tated individuals as well as assistance to the families of
incarcerated persons and to community based prevention pro-
grams for juveniles.
The Citizens Committee currently has no one assigned to
this area except for resource identification and such time
as the executive director has been able to devote to it.
(2) Sanitation and the Environment. The Sanitation
Department has been hit hard by budget cuts, and the new
Commissioner, Anthony Vaccarello, has already announced ex-
pansion of the civilian sanitation patrols that identify
and monitor violations of the sanitation laws.
In April, the Department launched with the Citizens
Committee a "Lend a Hand for a Cleaner New York" campaign
to involve citizens in clean-up and environmental projects
in their neighborhoods. In addition to revitalization of the
civilian patrols, projects include the creation of a citizen
sweep corps (2,500 street brooms are being distributed), dis-
tribution of litter baskets to block associations, special
sanitation projects involving merchants and the local sani-
tation councils, and a mobile education van. In addition, area
cleanups in all five boroughs are scheduled for May.
The Citizens Committee assumed major responsibility for
planning this comprehensive program in conjunction with the
Sanitation Department.
10.
The Citizens Committee has one person working in this
area, but she also is involved with parks and senior citizens.
(3) Senior Citizens. For no other service does there
exist a greater need for citizen self-help programs at the
neighborhood level. Over one million senior citizens reside
in the City, and hundreds of thousands of them are poor and
neglected.
The Citizens Committee, working with churches, schools
and City funded agencies, would like to energize local neigh-
borhood groups to work with the elderly on their blocks in a
variety of ways, including:
- escort service
- visits and calls to the homebound
- recreation and education programs
- food delivery programs
FORD is 937839 LIBRARY
- mini-senior centers
The Committee is in the process of developing a surplus
food program for neighborhood senior centers in conjunction
with a leading supermarket chain. In addition, the Committee
has begun to plan a Senior Citizens Neighborhood Corps to in-
volve seniors in community self-help projects throughout the
City.
The Citizens Committee needs a senior citizen specialist
to implement self-help projects and to mobilize the vast
reservoir of potential voluntary assistance to senior citizens
at the neighborhood level. Initial planning for the senior
citizens neighborhood corps is being handled by the executive
director. At least one full-time specialist is required if the
11.
Committee is to be an effective catalyst in this area.
(4) Housing and Neighborhood Preservation. Self-help
housing maintenance and repair programs of all kinds have great
potential in many sections of the City. Local residents who
wish to undertake self-help programs of modest home repair or
exterior repair or renovation of buildings in their neighbor-
hoods require information and technical assistance. Self-help
tenant programs need help with questions of landlord/tenant
relations, the administrative requirements of public agencies
relating to permits and approvals, and the organization of such
programs as Adopt-a-Building.
Volunteer skills and donated materials are needed to main-
tain and preserve neighborhood facilities. This includes the
filling of pot holes, repairing benches and sidewalks, sealing
vacant buildings, and painting public facilities.
The Citizens Committee has no one assigned to this impor-
tant area.
(5) Parks and Beautification. This service has been
devastated by budget cuts. Martin Lang, the new head of Parks
and Recreation, has strongly endorsed the concept of citizen
self-help, and recently designated a Deputy Commissioner to
develop volunteer programs with community groups in collabora-
tion with the department. Established community groups are
being sought to "adopt" local parks and street trees throughout
the City. Other projects will vary from park to park but in-
clude such activities as gardening, cleanups, grading and
12.
maintenance, tree care, and programming of special events.
Still other beautification projects include caring for vest
pocket parks and street malls, community gardens, playlots,
and the painting of public facilities such as hydrants, tree
guards, walls and buildings.
To organize self-help programs on a scale to meet the de-
mand, the Parks Department needs planning assistance as do
community groups that have expressed interest in adopt-a-park
activities. The Citizens Committee has offered the department
and other groups, such as the Parks Council, its help in orga-
nizing these efforts, but needs a full-time specialist to ful-
fill this commitment.
(6) Youth and Recreation. Municipal service cuts have
been especially harsh on youth programs. Yet, with careful
planning and help with equipment needs, self-help programs
could minimize service gaps in this vital area. Among the
local program possibilities are:
- after school recreation centers
- athletic programs and teams
- operation of playlots or other recreational facilities
- arts and crafts centers
- beautification and parks maintenance programs
- environmental cleanup programs
- service monitoring projects (e.g., food stamp program)
- neighborhood youth workers to work with youth gangs
- drug abuse education and counseling
13.
- remedial reading and tutoring
- trips (after school and weekends)
- music (choirs, marching bands)
- street olympics
The absence of good programming has been a major defect
in the City's youth programs. The Center's youth and recrea-
tion expert would concentrate on "model" programs -- built on
volunteer or private resources -- that have potential for
application in neighborhoods throughout the City. At present,
the Committee has no one assigned full time to this activity.
(7) Health, Education and Consumer Affairs. In the health
field, the Center's specialist would encourage and help to sus-
tain many potentially valuable self-help efforts, including:
- volunteer ambulance services
- pest control projects
- health fairs and other prevention projects
- neighborhood referral programs
- free health tests
- eye test clinics
The Center would also develop volunteer programs to assist
the Department of Health's local programs, including:
- enlistment of volunteers to serve as clinic assistants
in district health centers, child health stations and
school health programs operated by the Department of Health;
- enlistment of volunteer to provide direct patient assis-
tance which does not require professional training, such as
14.
recording the weight and height of patients prior to
their examination by a physician;
- patient interviewing and screening;
- assistance to the Public Health nurses in patient
follow-up;
- community outreach to families for preventive health
care.
The Citizens Committee has no one assigned full time to
this area and could use one specialist.
In the area of education the Center would concentrate on
developing neighborhood tutoring and remedial programs for
children as well as volunteer adult education programs to re-
place those eliminated by the budget cuts. With respect to the
latter, discussions are underway with several church groups.
The Board of Education and the Citizens Committee are ex-
ploring ways to increase the involvement of high school stu-
dents in community self-help programs. A specialist is needed
to provide ongoing support for this activity which is now being
handled by the executive director.
Consumer affairs is another area with potential for neigh-
borhood self-help -- and there is great need because of acute
manpower losses suffered by the Department of Consumer Affairs.
A specialist would assist the department to develop consumer
training programs for block associations and other local groups
and plan various kinds of consumer spotter and monitoring pro-
grams in local neighborhoods.
15.
B. Borough Self-Help Coordinators
Block and neighborhood associations, civic and merchant groups,
churches, and fraternal groups from all over the City have sought
information and assistance from the Citizens Committee during the
five months of its existence. The Committee's small cadre of paid
staff and volunteers has received numerous requests for speakers
on voluntary action, informational materials on self-help, aid in
starting block associations and technical assistance on how to
organize self-help projects in a variety of service areas.
Staff of the Citizens Committee has begun to develop outreach
through informal workshops to enlist leaders of active block
associations and other local groups as spokesmen on self-help pro-
grams in their communities. However, the Committee cannot ade-
quately service requests for assistance from local communities with-
out a full-time presence in each of the five boroughs. Some
Committee members have helped to provide this self-help outreach
in areas such as the South Bronx, Bedford Stuyvesant, the Rockaways,
Staten Island, Jamaica and Mid-Queens, but these individuals all
have other responsibilities. What the Committee needs, in addition,
is the capacity to provide information, organizational help and
planning assistance to local self-help groups on an ongoing basis
within each borough.
Five full-time borough coordinators will serve as the corner-
stone of the Citizens Committee's outreach programs. Located in
the boroughs, they will be responsible for identifying and linking
up with self-help groups at the neighborhood level and for training
volunteers to service local self-help programs. Their specific
& LIBRARY SERALD
16.
duties will include:
- organization of new self-help groups
- planning of self-help projects with local groups, the Office
of Neighborhood Services, the Community Boards and City
departments
- recruitment of volunteers for local self-help projects
- enlistment of public and private agency support for self-
help projects
- holding of self-help workshops for local groups
- identification of resources in support of self-help projects
The borough coordinators will be able to call on the Commit-
tee's service specialists (see above) and other personnel in
communications and resource identification for back up assistance
on specific projects. They will also organize borough advisory
groups, comprised of Committee members and representatives of self-
help programs, to help with overall planning and to serve as a
forum for the exchange of self-help information.
Four times a year each borough coordinator will prepare a
written report on borough self-help activities for the Citizens
Committee's board of directors and executive director.
C. Support Specialists
Communications: An essential ingredient of the Citizens
Committee's overall program is to publicize self-help activities
and to develop an overall communications program to facilitate the
exchange of information about self-help.
17.
A sustained media program to stimulate community self-help
activities will have many positive advantages:
(1) At the most fundamental level, it can help to change basic
attitudes of New Yorkers about the desirability and need for
self-help based on voluntary action in the face of crippling
budget cuts.
(2) It can highlight "models" of community self-help programs
for other to emulate.
(3) It can provide reward and recognition to local groups
whose efforts otherwise would not be known outside their
immediate neighborhoods.
(4) It can serve as a tool to enlist citizens and local groups
in self-help projects and to stimulate new projects.
The Citizens Committee has devoted considerable time trying
to get the message out to New Yorkers about the contributions that
volunteer programs can make to ease the City's fiscal plight.
Several full-page advertisements have been run in the daily papers;
volunteer public service spots have been placed in numerous local
T.V. and radio outlets; national and local media have been fed
stories about "help the City" efforts, and representatives of radio
and T.V. stations, city-wide and local papers have been encouraged
to develop special projects and features to promote volunteerism
in City agencies.
Beginning in May, the Committee will shift its communications
efforts to "community self-help" with particular emphasis on stories
and spot advertisements in local community newspapers and the high-
lighting of successful self-help projects in the city-wide media.
18.
To be able to coordinate this comprehensive communications
program, the Committee needs support for one communications
specialist.
Resource Identification: Numerous community self-help pro-
jects based on voluntary action require small infusions of funds
for equipment and other special needs. For many groups -- especially
from neighborhoods where residents are of modest means -- the ina-
bility to finance small project needs has been a serious impediment
to the expansion of self-help efforts. This is true, for example,
of the Police Department's successful civilian band radio program.
The Citizens Committee is not in business to locate resources
for individual self-help programs, but it will try to marshall pri-
vate support for bulk equipment needs of select self-help projects
that have potential for widespread application, such as:
- civilian band radios
- self-help sanitation equipment (power sweepers, brooms,
litter baskets)
- building materials, paint and tools for neighborhood preser-
vation projects
- trees, tools, shrubs for parks and beautification projects
-- books, athletic and educational equipment for youth and
senior citizen programs
In addition, the Committee would like to be able to help
self-help groups by identifying specialized volunteer talent to
assist them in planning and implementing projects -- such as law-
yers, auditors, planners, fund raisers, public relations experts,
etc.
FORD & LIBRARY 07V839
19.
The Committee has one person devoted full time to resource
identification and is in the process of putting together a resource
identification committee from among its members. Funds
are needed for the specialist's salary and for additional
assistance because of a rapidly expanding list of projects and the
enormous amount of work required for this function.
Block Association Organizers: The crux of the Citizens
Committee's program is support for and encouragement of self-help
groups at the neighborhodd level. As the foundation for such an
effort, the Committee intends to focus on revitalizing the City's
block association movement. There are thousands of block and
neighborhood associations in the City (and over 35,000 blocks)
with potential for involvement in self-help service projects.
Specific programs planned include:
- a major city-wide block association fair and conference to
be held on May 15 at which over 2,500 organizations will be
represented;
- educational pamphlets and directories on block associations
and self-help projects;
- a speakers bureau comprised of block association leaders to
advise local groups on the formation of block associations
and on self-help opportunities and assistance available to them;
- a technical assistance unit to help block associations plan
self-help projects;
- special projects involving block associations on a city-
wide basis (e.g., distribution of litter baskets to block
associations as part of the Lend A Hand for a Cleaner New
20.
York campaign);
Work on the above projects, and others, is currently being
handled by the Committee's one block association expert, but the
volume of work requires at least three full-time specialists. This
is especially true for the task of organizing and administering
volunteers to man the speakers bureau and technical assistance unit.
Funding support for two block association organizers is
essential.
D. Special Projects
In order to provide maximum visibility and support to community
self-help activities throughout the City, the Citizens Committee
has planned several special projects. These include:
(1) A half-hour film in conjunction with First National City
featuring outstanding examples of community self-help for
widespread dissemination throughout the City.
(2) A Community Self-Help Fund* to assist and provide recog-
nition to outstanding self-help projects through small grants
made at periodic intervals during the year (see Attachment D).
(3) A series of "Lend A Hand" self-help pamphlets** for block
associations, sanitation, senior citizens, security, education,
health, parks and beautification, housing, neighborhood preser-
vation and consumer affairs.
*About $50,000 has already been pledged for the Fund by several
foundations.
**Pamphlets in the first two areas are in production and 25,000
copies of the block association pamphlet will be ready for dis-
tribution in mid-May.
21.
(4) A directory of 75 to 100 self-help projects, including
a brief description, basic steps to implement projects and
where to obtain assistance and information.
(5) Conferences and workshops, including the city-wide con-
ference for block associations to be held on May 15 and a
self-help conference for high schools to be held in conjunc-
tion with the Board of Education on May 20. In addition, the
Committee would like to arrange a series of self-help work-
shops throughout the City and additional conferences in the
areas of security and senior citizens.
(6) A communications program to raise public consciousness
about community self-help, including advertisements in news-
papers, public service spots for T.V. and radio, a self-help
bulletin board in local neighborhood papers, and special pro-
grams to highlight and públicize outstanding self-help
programs.
GERALD R. FORD
22.
Budget
(One Year)
Item
Amount
1. Director Neighborhood Self-Help
Assistance Center
$ 25,000
2. Seven service specialists
($16,000 each)
112,000
3. Five borough coordinators
($14,000 each)
70,000
4. Support specialists for communications
($15,000), resource identification
($15,000), and block associations
(2 - $13,000 each)
56,000
5. Clerical staff for items 1-4
(8 secretaries at $9,000 each)
72,000
6. Special Projects
50,000
a. "How to" pamphlets and
project directory
($20,000)
b.
Conferences & workshops
($10,000)
C. Communications program
($20,000)
TOTAL COSTS:
$385,000
Univery
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
May 24, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
JIM CANNON Shin
SUBJECT:
Response to Mayor Cianci
Providence, Rhode Island
Mayor Vincent Cianci wrote to you on May 10, expressing
his appreciation for the opportunity to participate in
the White House meeting on "Ethnicity and Neighborhood
Revitalization."
Attached at Tab A is a draft reply for your signature.
Executive Chamber, City of Providence, Rhode Island
Vincent A. Cianci, Jr.
MAYOR
May 10, 1976
And
The Honorable Gerald R. Ford
The White House
Washington, D. C.
Dear President Ford:
I was delighted to participate with you, the honorable members
of the Cabinet, and the various representatives from different parts
of the country at the White House meeting last week on "Ethnicity
/ and Neighborhood Revitalization." Your commitment "to strengthen
the ties of community and neighborhood within our society," is deeply
appreciated by those of us who have begun our individual work in our
communities, and by your appointment of Mr. William J. Baroody, Jr.
and Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, you give visible support of the high prior-
ity in which you view this program. The skills and empathy of these
two fine men were in evidence by the manner in which they conducted
the special meeting, and by their clear presentation of the policies
of your administration in regard to neighborhood revitalization.
The consensus of those present was to urge you to consider the
establishment of a Presidential Task Force, Commission, or Council
to promote a national neighborhood policy to revitalize the neighbor-
hoods in our urban centers. By such action and continuing discussion
on matters of ethnicity and neighborhood revitalization, the work of
your administration in the rejuvenation of our cities will move for-
ward into the 1980's with a firm direction. In this manner, further-
more, we can begin to help individual communities help themselves
toward a brighter future. I look forward to continuing discussions
with you and your staff in the days ahead.
Warm personal regards.
Sincerely,
Uncenta hanicy Mayor of Providence
VINCENT A. CIANCI, JR.
VAC
CC: Mr. William J. Baroody, Jr.
Dr. Myron B. Kuropas
EXECUTIVE CORRESPONDENCE
May 24, 1976
Dear Mayor Cianci:
Thank you for your recent letter expressing your
appreciation for the opportunity to participate
in the White House meeting on "Ethnicity and Neigh-
borhood Revitalization."
I very much appreciated your participation and am
pleased to hear that you viewed the meeting as a
positive step toward resolving the many issues
faced by the neighborhoods of our large urban areas.
Sincerely,
Honorable Vincent A. Cianci, Jr.
Mayor of Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
DO WRITE ON THIS COVER AS IT IS INTENDED FOR OFFICE RE-USE
RETURN NOT IT WITH THE FILE COPIES TO ORIGINATING
ETHNIC PURITY - NEW JERSEY
Q:
Could you elaborate on your views, as first expressed
in the Rose Garden news conference with the American
Society of Newspaper Editors, on what role the Federal
and State governments should play in opening up suburbs
or racially restricted areas of cities to member of
minority groups and specifically to blacks.
A:
I stated at that time that I supported existing Federal
housing laws. The Housing and Community Development
Act of 1974, the first law that I signed when I took
office, provides for greater participation by State and
local governments in the use of Federal funds for
housing and urban needs.
The law also provides, however, that communities which
apply for Federal Community Development Block Grants
must provide a housing assistance plan for low-income
people residing in the community or expected to reside,
which complies with civil rights legislation and provides
adequate citizen participation.
Another part of the law, Section 8, provides direct
cash assistance for lower-income families to meet their
housing needs. This provision avoids the massive
housing projects that characterized former Federal
public housing programs, which antagonized many suburban
communities.
Taken together, the various provisions of the 1974 Act
provide a sensible and flexible guideline for the
interaction of Federal, State and local governments in
the matter of low-income housing.
FLM
6/2/76
CD
THE WHITE HOUSE
INFORMATION
WASHINGTON
June 16, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR JIM CANNON
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Possible Ena Denial X of Boston's
LYNN MAY
Community Development Block Grants
Attached is correspondence from the HUD Regional Office
concerning possible disapproval of Boston's Second Year
Block Grant Entitlement application. In light of the busing
situation, I felt you should be aware of this development.
I will monitor closely HUD negotiations with Boston in
this matter and keep you advised.
Attachment
CC: Jim Cavanaugh
Art Quern
Steve McConahey
Dick
Parsons
on what trunslate grounds officially. for 7
can you the
from
Thank 80
NUD-55 (7-75) PREVIOUS EDITION MAY BE USED
Memorandum
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
TO
:
David O. Meeker, Jr., Assistant Secretary
DATE: 10 JUN 1975
for CPD, C
IN REPLY REFER TO:
1.1G:CM
FROM
: William H. Hernandez, Jr., Boston Area Office, 1.1S
SUBJECT: Recommendation of Disapproval of City of Boston's Second Year
Entitlement Application
Program No. B-76-MC-25-002
This memorandum will advise you that the Boston Area Office has completed the
review of Boston's Application for Second Year Block Grant Entitlement funding
and has determined that the Application should be disapproved unless the applicant
makes certain additions to its statement of needs and objectives and develops
activities appropriate to meet these needs and objectives. The City has failed
to comply with 24CFR570. which requires the applicant to "take into consider-
ation and summarize" special needs which are found to exist for members of an
identifiable segment of the total group of lower-income persons in the City.
Noncompliance with Section 303(a) is a basis for disapproval of the application
under Section 104(c)(3) of Title I and Section 306(b)(2)(iii) of the Regulations.
Specifically, the special needs not identified by the applicant are the need for
programs to increase access by minorities to predominately white neighborhoods
and to services and facilities located therein and for services to protect those
minority persons living or seeking to live in such neighborhoods against violence
and harassment.
Notwithstanding this issue, the application is otherwise approvable. At the
request of Mr. Maynard, we-will not pursue this issue with Boston until the
Central Office has had an opportunity to concur in the precise text of such
communication. We are forwarding herewith a copy of the application and all
technical reviews.
Area/Office Director
Enclosures
RALD
GERALD R
Memorandum
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVEROPMENT
TO
:
John Mongan, Chief Program
ning and Support
DATE: June 8, 1976
Branch, 1.1CPS
IN REPLY REFER TO:
1.1E
FROM
: James R. Turner, JI., Equal Opportunity Division,
1.1E
SUBJECT: Year 2 CDBG Entitlement Application Review
Boston, Mass.-Grant No.B-76-MC-25-0002
This Division has carefully reviewed the subject application, and at this
time cannot recommend that it be approved for reasons as follows:
1. Negative findings resulting from the Annual In-House Review (trans-
mitted on May 12, 1976)
2. Inconsistency with the provisions of Section 570.306(b)(2) of the
CDBG regulations, insofar as Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity staff
has determined that on the basis of significant facts and data gen-
erally available and pertaining to community housing needs and ob-
jectives, the applicant's description of such needs and objectives
is plainly inconsistent with such facts and data.
3. HAP data is incomplete.
With respect to the second reason, section 570.303(a) gives us the authority
to take into account, in our review of entitlement applications whether the
applicant has, in identifying its needs, taken into consideration and sum-
marized any special needs found to exist in any identifiable segment of the
total group of lower-income persons in the community. This section also
states that the plans should be written in a manner to encompass the needs,
strategy, and to provide community development facilities and public im-
provements, including the provision of supporting social and similar ser-
vices where necessary and appropriate. Our authority to recommend such ac-
tion has in fact been further clarified by 2 memorandum signed jointly by
Assistant Secretaries Blair and Meeker (re:FH & E0 Review of Entitlement
Applications, May 6, 1976).
The FH & EO Division has determined that substantial evidence, including sig-
nificant facts and data exist that indicates a failure on the part of the ap-
plicant to comply with section 570.303(a). Specifically, in the presentation
of its "Statement of Needs", the applicant elaborates in item A on the many
factors that have brought on instability in and exerted negative influences on
Boston's neighborhoods. We agree that these factors and the needs associated
with them are elements which effect lower-income residents of the City. How-
ever, the applicant has neglected to cite several important factors which sig-
nificantly impact upon Blacks and Hispanics as identifiable segments of the
total group of lower-income persons in the community, and consider their spe-
cial needs found to exist because of the existence of these factors.
2
The factors (or obstacles to the pursuit of their Civil Rights under Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968,
Executive Order 11063 and Section 109 of Title I-H&CD Act of 1974) we are re-
ferring to are:
1. The existence of racially segregated housing patterns in the City of
Boston.
2. The absence of applicant initiated provisions for equal opportunities in
housing and freedom of choice for all individuals, and
3. The inability of the applicant to assure, as stated in Section 109, that
no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race,
color, national origin, or sex, be excluded from participa-
tion in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to dis-
crimination under any program or activity funded in whole or
part under this title.
In light of the reality of those factors, it is this Division's opinion that a
critical need of the City is to provide social and similar programs to remove
these obstacles to a "genuinely open community."
Pursuant to Section 507.306(b)(1), evidence, including significant facts and
data substantiating the above findings are as follows:
1. Data from the 1970 Census reflects that eight (8) of the fifteen (15)
Planning Districts (referred to as neighborhoods by Boston residents)
are 436 or less minority. These Districts are: East Boston, Charles-
town, South Soston, North End, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Hyde Park,
and Dorchester.
2. Minority population of the inner-city neighborhoods of South End,
Jamaica Plain-Parker Hill, Washington Park, and Mattapan-Franklin
ranges from 28% to 67%.
3. Racial occupancy of Federally-assisted Public Housing and FHA sub-
sidized multifamily housing located in the aforementioned twelve
neighborhoods generally reflects the racial composition of the neigh-
borhoods.
4. There is a court case which is pending against the Boston Housing Auth-
ority (Armando Perez et als. vs Boston Housing Authority). In this
civil action suit, the Housing Court of the City of Boston has made a
finding of fact that:
"
occupancy by race in B.H.A's Federal and State-aided family de-
velopments reinforces in many cases and exacerbates in some cases racial
segregation in Boston's neighborhoods that B.H.A.'s leased housing in
3
terms of its location and supancy by race not only oxacerbates racial
segregation in Boston but also impacts certain neighborhoods.
The Court's final opinion is that the facts found indicate that occupancy
by race in B.E.A. is developments and leased housing reinforcos and ex-
acerbates segregated housing patterns in Boston's neighborhoods.
5. The Equal Opportunity officer of the B.H.A. has compiled documentation
pertaining to cases involving harrassment of and violence committed
against tenants of Public housing in the following neighborhoods:
A. Charlestown - Two families were transferred from Project No.Mass 2-1
due to racially notivated harrassment, and the actual beating of one
tenant.
B. East Boston - due to violence related to the School Desegragation
Court Order, seven minority families were transferred from Project
No.Mass 2-52 and 12 families from Mass 2-8.
C. South Boston - eight minority families have moved from Mass 2-23
due to harrassment and physical attacks on small children.
6. The Morgen vs. Honnigan Suit, 379 F.Supp. 410(1974), the Boston School
Desegrogation Case brought by parents of Black children who attend Bos-
ton Public Schools wherein the Court held that, "...the school authori-
ties had knowingly carried out a systematic program of segregation af-
fecting all of the City's students, teachers, and school facilities and
had intentionally brought about or maintained a dual school system;.."
illustrates that this is a serious problem that is fostered by racially
segregated neighborhoods.
7. There are numerous accounts of racially motivated physical attacks against
minority citizens who have crossed the racial boundaries of South Boston,
East Boston and Charlestown, before and since the promulation of the
school desegragation plan.
8.
The BHA has stated to the Court that it has neither the funds nor the
resources to provide protection for tenants and therefore has to rely
upon the Boston Police Force to provide such services.
In our review of the description and location of short and long term, and current
year activities programmed by the applicant, it is evident that the City of Bos-
ton plans to continue to fund activities in locations where minorities may be
excluded from participation in, be donied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under such activities, due to the existence of the aforemention-
ed obstacles to an open comunity as substantiated by the above facts and data.
The activities in question that will be carried out substantially in the most
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
4
critical and racially hostile areas of South Boston, East Boston and Charles-
town are: the Housing Improvement Program, Public Housing Improvements, Code
Enforcement, Reuse of Vacant Land, and the Neighborhood Business District and
Neighborhood Capital Improvement Programs in their entirety.
In summation, based on the substance of this correspondence, it is the opinion
of the FH & EO Division that the City of Boston's entitlement application not
be approved until such time as the City officially recognizes the special cri-
tical need of minorities which is to provide social and similar programs to
remove the aforementioned obstacles to a "genuinely open community", and de-
velops activities and presents goals and timetables to implement these acti-
vities to foster open housing in all of Bostons neighborhoods and to protect
the rights of all citizens under Title VI, Title VIII, Executive Order 11063
and Section 109. Grant assistance for these types of activities are eligible
under Section 570.200(a)(8) of the regulations.
Housing Assistance Plan - The following deficiencies were noted in our review
of the HAP, and must therefore be corrected prior to the final approval of the
application:
1. The applicant must record the data for Orientals on page 2 of form
HUD-7015.9.
2. The applicant makes reference to the regulations of the Existing HAP
Program in relation to the Section 8 Additional Assistance Program,
in an explanation of the selection of general locations for proposed
lower-income housing (form HUD-7015.11). To our knowledge, the regu-
lations set forth in the Section 8 Existing Housing Program do not
apply to this program. This reference should therefore be removed from
the form.
3. Census tracts 815,817, and 1101, identified as general locations for new
construction, are all aroas of minority concentration. The tracts 614,
907,1008,1201,1303, 1401, and 1403, which are in predominately white
areas, on face value seem to be comparable opportunities. However these
areas cannot be viewed as Such by this division considering the data and
facts presented in the review of the CD Plan. The evidence reflects that
it is doubtful that opportunities for minorities do actually exist in these
areas. In order for this Division to concur with the selection of these
sites, we must be assured that the applicant programs activities in the
CD Plan to remove the obstacles to a "genuinely open community".
James
R.
Director
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
THE WHITE HOUSE
ACTION
WASHINGTON
June 18, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR JIM CANNON
FROM:
LYNN MAY Lynn
SUBJECT:
Urban Development/Neighborhood Revitalization
The Domestic Council Staff has been working with HUD to
develop new approaches to urban policy questions. Secretary
Hills touched on this when we met with her on the busing
issue.
Bill Baroody's staff on the other hand, has been carrying on
a series of conferences with ethnic and minority leaders on
the question of neighborhood revitalization. Two weeks ago,
Baroody submitted a decision memo to the President (Tab A)
calling for the establishment of a Domestic Council Committee
on Neighborhood Revitalization which was staffed by Jim
Connor. Although OMB and the Domestic Council expressed
reservations about such an entity, the President decided
some visible action on the issue was necessary and asked the
Domestic Council to develop it.
Secretary Hills developed an alternative proposal to Baroody's
memo (Tab B) which Jim Connor has subsequently staffed. I
have prepared a recommendation on it to the President for
your signature (Tab C) that I believe will satisfy almost
everyone's interest in this matter - the President for an
interagency group to look at neighborhood policy, Carla
Hills for the leadership role in the issue (which programmatically
should be hers), and OMB which opposes the formation of a
National Commission as proposed in legislation by Senators
Proxmire and Garn. (Apparently, Secretary Hills supports
the legislation in deference to Senator Proxmire.)
Essentially, my formulation is to combine our urban policy
initiative with the proposed neighborhood revitalization
proposal in one Domestic Council Committee that can review
the issues comprehensively.
cc: Jim Cavanaugh
Art Quern
GERALD
Steve McConahey
Allan Moore
Pat Delaney
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
May 28, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
68
FROM:
WILLIAM J. BAROODY, JR
SUBJECT:
Preserving the Neighborhood: An Issue for 1976
On May 5, you addressed a group of ethnic leaders in the Rose Garden.
The leaders were attending an all-day meeting in the White House to
discuss neighborhood revitalization. During your remarks, you re-
quested that I inform you of any and all recommendations. This
memorandum responds to that request and raises some related issues.
BACKGROUND
For a large number of Americans, especially ethnic Americans, the
neighborhood is at the heart of American life. It is in the neighborhood
that those institutions which ethnic Americans worked so hard to estab-
lish -- the ethnic church, the fraternal lodge, the credit union and the
school are located. More importantly, it is in the neighborhood
that the remaining vitality of our cities is centered.
Neighborhood leaders -- ethnic, black and Hispanic American alike --
feel that no one in the Federal government cares about their special
needs. Few government programs have been specifically directed at
neighborhood revitalization. Some government programs have actually
contributed to neighborhood decline.
Addressing neighborhood problems is very much in keeping with the
Ford philosophy of returning the decision-making power to the people.
We don't necessarily need more programs. We do need better coordi-
nation of programs which already exist and the elimination of programs
which interfere with local neighborhood control.
We have now conducted a number of White House conferences on
ethnicity. There has been a common thread running throughout
them -- concern expressed by the ethnic American participants
over preservation of their neighborhoods. They have formally
recommended that you establish a commission to study this issue.
I strongly urge that we now make their recommendation a reality,
and thereby demonstrate our concern for and understanding of their
problems.
It is my belief, based on the merits, that simultaneously with the
annquncement of Attorney General Levi's decision on busing you
also announce the formation of either an interdepartmental task
force or a Domestic Council Cabinet Committee on "neighborhoods
and neighborhood revitalization. " Such an announcement could help
mollify civil rights supporters nervous about our busing position
while at the same time pleasing our ethnic American constituency.
You should know that Senator Proxmire is expected to hold hearings
on a bill to create a Commission on Urban Neighborhood Revitalization
within the next week or SO. (See Tab A. ) Mayor Vincent Cianci
(R-Providence, R.I.) is supporting this effort, as is Msgr. Geno
Baroni, President of the Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs. Msgr.
Baroni co-sponsored the White House Conference on Neighborhood
Revitalization which you addressed in the Rose Garden. Action by
you on this issue would preempt Senator Proxmire and any other
Democrats.
You should also be aware that a conference is scheduled for June 13,
sponsored by the National People's Action Committee. They are
expecting to attract 2000 representatives to that conference and,
according to the Nicholas von Hoffman article (Tab B), a major
focus of that conference will be on red lining.
The next White House Conference on Ethnicity will be on June 1, and
if our announcement isn't tied to the busing decision, it could be
announced then. In any event, it would clearly be desirable to make
the announcement before the Proxmire bill is introduced and the
FORD i LIBRARY
People's conference held on June 13.
Attached at Tab C is some follow-up publicity from our recent ethnic
meetings.
- 3
ACTION
I seek concurrences on the following:
Agree
Disagree
1.
Announcement of a Domestic Council
Committee on neighborhood revitalization,
or alternatively, announcement of an
interdepartmental Executive Branch task
force on neighborhood revitalization.
2.
The above should be announced on
(a) a date pegged to the announcement
of Attorney General Levi's busing
decision,
(b) several days before the National
People's Action Committee meeting
on June 13, or
(c) during the June 1 White House
Conference on Ethnicity.
: * or ADURING * AND
THE SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMEN
$ 16/76
UNITED C
WASHINGTON, D.C.. 20410
Lynna A
June 16, 1976
I
Ms see
today. gun
MEMORANDUM FOR:
The President
FROM:
Carla A. Hills
SUBJECT:
Urban Development and
Neighborhood Revitalization
On June 11, Senators Garn and Proxmire introduced S.3554
which would establish a National Commission on Neighborhoods,
to investigate "...the factors contributing to the decline of
city neighborhoods and the factors necessary to neighborhood
survival and revitalization.' The Commission will recommend
modifications in Federal, state, and local laws, policies, and
programs to facilitate neighborhood preservation and revitalization.
This proposal is consistent with stated Administration policy
to assist communities to conserve existing urban assets and to
deal with neighborhood decline.
I recommend that the Administration support S.3554 and in
addition establish immediately a seven member Domestic Council
Committee on Urban Development: (1) to review in a comprehensive
manner all Federal programs which have an impact on neighborhood
development and stabilization; (2) to serve as an Executive Branch
liaison with the National Commission on Neighborhoods after it is
appointed; and (3) to assess the Federal role in urban development.
1/ The 20 member Commission is to be composed of 2 members of
the Senate and 2 members of the House plus 16 members to be
appointed by the President, including at least 5 elected officers
of recognized neighborhood organizations engaged in development
and revitalization programs, at least 5 elected or appointed
officials of local governments involved in preservation programs
and the remaining with demonstrated experience in neighborhood
revitalization activities.
We can expect the issue to be raised by Senators Proxmire
and Garn at the oversight hearings to be held by the Committee
on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs scheduled for Wednesday,
June 23.
-2-
This recommendation envisions that HUD, pursuant to its
statutory authority "to exercise leadership
in coordinating
Federal activities affecting
urban development would
chair an Executive Branch Committee composed of the Secretaries
of Health, Education and Welfare, Transportation, Treasury,
Commerce, Labor and the Attorney General.
DISCUSSION
1.
The proposed National Commission would provide a broadly
based forum for analyzing the problems of an economic cross-section
of neighborhoods.
2. Because the proposed National Commission does not have
Executive Branch membership, the Administration has an opportunity
to make a constructive contribution by appointing a Domestic
Council Committee to work as a liaison group. Such a liaison
Committee also could enhance the potential for successful
implementation of the Commission's recommendations, avoiding a
problem which has plagued similar Commissions in the past.
3. The statutory mandate for formation of the proposed
National Commission is preferable to the proposal pending within
the White House to establish a twelve member Domestic Council
Committee on Neighborhood Revitalization, which suffers from:
3/
Section 3 (a) of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965.
-3-
(a) An all-Federal composition when the analysis
requires local input.
(b) Omission of Treasury (tax policy), Labor (jobs).
(c) An unwieldly membership resulting from the
inclusion of several agency directors, which inevitably will
generate pressures to include other directors, further aggravating
the size problem.
4.
The recommendation contained herein to establish a
seven member Domestic Council Committee would augment and improve
the proposed National Commission by
(a) Building on, but not preempting the bipartisan
congressional effort;
(b) Providing for coordinated activity by the seven
Federal Departments which already have responsibilities that
impact neighborhoods;
(c) Providing necessary Executive Branch input, liaison
and coordination; and
(d) Expediting the work of the proposed National
Commission by developing immediately a comprehensive review of
all Federal programs impacting neighborhoods, which will be
indispensable to the Commission's duties, as defined in the
proposed statute.
GERALD
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
JIM CANNON
SUBJECT:
Urban Development and
Neighborhood Revitalization
Carla Hills' counter-proposal to Bill Baroody's suggested
Domestic Council Committee on Neighborhood Revitalization
contains many improvements over the original. It would:
1.
Support current legislation advocated by Senators
Proxmire and Garn to establish a National Commission
on Neighborhoods.
2.
Establish a Domestic Council Committee on Urban
Development to:
a.
review Federal programs which have a impact
on neighborhood development,
b.
serve as an Executive Branch liaison with the
National Commission on Neighborhoods, and
C.
assess the Federal role in urban development.
I concur in Secretary Hills' recommendation for a seven
member Domestic Council Committee on Urban Development and
Neighborhood Revitalization, chaired by her, because it
would:
1.
Address the neighborhood revitalization issue,
of great concern to ethnic and minority groups,
as part of the larger questions of urban growth
and fiscal solvency, which are of vital interest
to State and local governments.
2.
Assert Presidential leadership in a complex set of
questions that must be dealt with comprehensively.
-2-
3.
Provide an institutional framework for the coordination
of Federal resources to deal with these issues.
I do not concur with the Secretary's recommendation for active
support of legislation establishing a National Commission on
Neighborhoods because of long start-up time and general
unpredictability of such Commissions. If the legislation is
passed I would not recommend veto, but I see no reason to
advocate it. I think that the Secretary's concern for
public input into the study of city and neighborhood problems
could be obtained by well-thought-out hearings and public
meetings conducted by the Domestic Council Committee. These
meetings would establish your Administration's leadership in
this area more effectively than support for a National
Commission.
CC: McConahey
May
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
STATE OF MISSOURI
JEFFERSON CITY
CHRIS TOPHER S. BOND
file
GOVERNOR
September 9, 1976
Honorable Carla Hills
Secretary
Department of Housing and
Urban Development
451 Seventh Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C. 20410
Dear Secretary Hills:
The proposed regulations for the Fiscal Year 1977
Community Development Discretionary Block Grant include
revisions to last year's procedure that could eliminate
states from the review process and, in fact, raise
serious concerns as to HUD's commitment to citizen
involvement in administering the program.
Changes in the timing of A-95 review of pre-appli-
cations makes it virtually impossible for reviewing
agents to provide comments to the selection process.
The State of Missouri undertook an extensive review of
proposed projects in Fiscal Year 1976 and the results
were included in the selection process. Under the pro-
posed regulations, the cutoff date for pre-application
will be November 30 and, according to the regional office,
final applications are to be invited by December 24. In
a competitive funding situation it is imperative that
A-95 review be conducted at the pre-application stage.
The elimination of reviews at this stage is clearly a
violation of the intent of the A-95 process.
Strict interpretation of the last section dealing
with selection criteria could preclude states from making
a meaningful contribution to the selection process. I
cannot believe that HUD wants to eliminate local concerns
from the decision making process.
09/304
Honorable Carla Hills
September 9, 1976
Page 2
The State of Missouri is prepared to work with
HUD in making the FY '77 program a success. To accomplish
this, it is imperative these issues be promptly resolved.
Sincerely,
GOVERNOR
prw
CC: James Cannon, Domestic Council
James Lynn, Office of Management and Budget
Rules Docket Clerk, HUD
Elmer Smith
THE WHITE HOUSE
From
WASHINGTON
September 15, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR:
DICK CHENEY
FROM:
JIM CANNON
SUBJECT:
Little Italy
You indicated that the President might want to discuss with
the Italian American Society the New York City Planning
Commission's proposed new zoning rules for Little Italy in
Manhattan, particularly whether Federal involvement would be
appropriate.
The only major Federal programs applicable to assist the re-
zoning of Little Italy would be an apportionment of New York
City's community development block grants and/or an appor-
tionment of rehabilitation loans for housing or commercial
purposes under HUD's 312 program. Both would be contingent
upon application to the Mayor of New York for a share of New
York City's block grant and rehabilitation funds.
Preliminary inquiries indicate that both Little Italy and
Chinatown are part of separate larger community planning
districts and, therefore, eligible for block grant and
rehabilitation funds. New York City's community development
block grants will rise from $102 million to $152 million in
FY 77. Rehabilitation loans will likely remain at the
$2 million level for FY 77.
In summary, Federal funds would be appropriate to assist the
re-zoning and rehabilitation of Little Italy, but their use
would depend upon approval by the Mayor of New York, who
must make this decision in the face of other priorities for
use of Federal funds.
CLEARANCE SHEET
DATE: 9/15/76
JMC ACTION
Required by 9/15/76
STAFF RESPONSIBILITY Lynn May
SUBJECT:
Federal involvement re Little Italy in New York
RECEIVED FROM: Jim Cannon
DATE RECEIVED: 9/9/76
STAFF COMMENTS:
QUERN/MOORE RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE
REVIEW & COMMENT
DISCUSS
CANNON ACTION:
Material Has Been:
DATE: 9/15
Signed and forwarded JMC sems to Cheny
Changed and signed
Returned per conversation
Noted
OR
JIM CANNON
Comment:
And
re:
090602
WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
September 4, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR:
JIM CANNON
FROM:
DICK CHENEY
D
Jim, attached is an article from the New York Times on the
preservation of Little Italy in New York.
The President has asked that I pass it to you with the request
that you look at it to see what, if any, Federal involvement
would be appropriate.
We may want to discuss it on September 16 when he meets with
the Italian-American Society.
Attachment
09002
The New York Times/William E. Saure
Little Italy. New proposals would seek to improve physical ambiance of both Little Italy and Chinatown.
iefs
Preservation of Little Italy Urged
By GLENN FOWLER
Italy would be kept in small
New zoning rules intended to
scale. The area's indutrial corri-
Special
"preserve and enhance the spe-
dors, on the Bowery and on
cial character" of Little Italy
District
Canal and Kenmare Streets,
were proposed yesterday by the
would be retained becuase in-
New York City Planning Com-
dustrial uses are considered es-
mission.
The proposal, two years in
sential to the economic health
the making, stems from a joint
of Little Italy.
effort by the commission and
Also, near the north end of
a neighborhood group, the Lit-
the district, vacant lots along
tle Italy Restoration Associa-
Houston Street are envisioned
tion, to bring about a "resorgi-
as potential sites for new hous-
mento"-a resurgence-of a
ing with some retail develop-
historic section of Manhattan
ment.
that has lately suffered from
But on Mulberry Street South
urban decay and a decline of
of Broome and on Grand and
its ethnic population.
Hester Streets, ground floor
The new regulations would
space would be restricted to
seek to strengthen the existing
MANHATTAN
restaurants and specialty
fabric of the 31-block area on
shops. As part of any new con-
the Lower East Side by encour-
The New York Times/Sept. 3, 1976
struction or rehabilitation ef-
aging more small restaurants,
fort, sidewalk improvements
shops and other convenience
number of immigrants from
would be required.
facilities on the narrow streets
Italy arriving each year.
The regulations would extend
and also in interior courtyards.
In recent years Chinese res-
to such details as the size and
Landscaped open space for
taurants and shops have moved
positioning of store signs,
residents would also be re-
into the southern portion of Lit-
which, for example, would not
served, and sidewalk and park
tle Italy, as the more rapid in-
be permitted to cbscure win-
improvements would be facili-
flux of immigrants from the
dows, cornices or columns of
tated. To maintain the present
Orient has strained the capacity
building fronts. Blank street
intimate scale of Little Italy,
of Chinatown to overflowing.
walls would have to be punc-
new buildings would be limited
tured with windows or door
to seven stories or 75 feet in
Some Ethnic Tension
openings, or covered with art-
height.
This has: led to. a certain
work or greenery.
"To many New Yorkers, Lit-
amount of friction between the
tle Italy is a home-away-from
two ethnic groups, which the
home," Victor Marrero, chair-
Department of City Planning
man of the Planning Commis-
has tried to reduce by devising
sion, said in announcing the
careful plans to improve the
new proposal. "Sitting as i does
physical ambience of both Lit-
amid other neighborhoods. with
tle Italy and Chinatown.
special flavor-Chinatown, So-
The new zoning rules are the
Ho, Orchard Street and Green-
second concrete result of the
wich Village it is a magnetic
"risorgiments" 1974, study that
regional asset and one of the
recommended a number of im-
city's most vital places."
provements, including new
Under new procedures for
housing, a new elementary
lend-use review mandated by
school, the refurbishing of
the revised City Charter adop-
DeSalvio Park at Mulberry and
ted by the voters last Novem-
Spring Streets and the acquisi-
ber, the commission yesterday
tion of the abandoned Police
referred the new zoning regu-
Headquarters building on Cen-
lations to Community Board 2,
tre Street for an Italian-Ameri-
GERALD FORD VIBRARY
which must hold a public hear-
can cultural center.
ing within 60 days and submit
The first result was the
its recommendations to the
weekend closing of Mulberry
commission, which in turn will
Street to motor traffic on week-
holda hearing later in the fall.
ends during the last two sum-
The special zoning district,
mers, the first step in a pro-
bounded by Canal Street on the
gram of "pedonalizzazione," or
south, the Bowery on the east,
pedestrianization, aimed at
Bleecker Street on the north
promoting the easy going
and Mulberry, Center and Bax-
character of street life found
ter Streets on the west, has
in Italian cities.
15,000 residents, with a small
Not
all
31
blocks
of
Little
CC'. Lynn may
Rie
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
September 4, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR:
JIM CANNON
FROM:
DICK CHENEY D
Jim, attached is an article from the New York Times on the
preservation of Little Italy in New York.
The President has asked that I pass it to you with the request
that you look at it to see what, if any, Federal involvement
would be appropriate.
We may want to discuss it on September 16 when he meets with
the Italian-American Society.
Attachment
090602
THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, I
NE WAY
CLAM
Ouse
CAPPUCC
SPAGNETTI
CALAMARI
SCUNGILLI
MUSSELS
NAPOLI CAFFE
The New York Times/William L
The corner of Hester and Mulberry Streets in Little Italy. New proposals would seek to improve physical ambiance of both Little Italy and Chinat
Metropolitan Briefs
Preservation of Little Italy Urge
GERALD ROBID ?
VEHICLE
-
Italv would he kent in sm
The New York Times/William k.
and Mulberry Streen Little Italy. New proposals would seek to improve physical ambiance of both Little Italy and Chinat
olitan Liefs
Preservation ofLittle Italy Urge
By GLENN FOWLER
Italy would be kept in smit
New zoning rules intended to
Little Italy
scale. The area's indutrial corn
and enhance the ano
8
Special
$
dors. on the Bowery and