Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / July 10, 1982, edition 1 / Page 15
Part of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
LtjtfQrs to the Editor: Hayti Contract Coping L The Important Element By Dr. Charles W Faulkner -Your July 3rd Editorial entitled "It Does Make One Wonder", seems to indicate that the full im pact of the events leading up to the awarding of a $65,000 contract to the Hayti Development Corpor tation (HDC) may be missed by the public. The HDC provided the City with a 50-page plan which was developed independent of any capital outlay by the City. The plan features a commercial focus for Hayti, complemented by residential, ' hotelconference center complex, and industrial components. It focuses on the inclusion of the relocatees and former. relocatees in the resulting: development, and the maximal involvement by the, local community. A compromise plan had been agreed to by the City and HDC in the middle of March, 1982, and presented to the City Council by the City Administration. This plan consisted of land use, and zoning, with marketing strategics and bid procedures to be negotiated after adoption of . the plan by the Council. i At a May meeting of the Finance Committee, the, compromise plan ran into its first obstacle. It pass ed by a margin of only 4-3 after two opponents, in cluding the Ward III councilman, left early. This led lo a virtual impasse. By the middle of May, the Downtown Development Task Force of the Durham Committee on the Affairs -of Black People (DCABP) submitted a proposal to the City Ad ministration which included (I) adoption of the compromise plan, (2) $5.3 million request for funds for site improvements, revolving loan fund and more (to be expended over a 3-year period) to sup port Hayti Development ; (3) a recommendation that HDC become the trustee of the land, and (4) percentage goals for Black participation in all aspects of the Civic CenterHotel Complex. A re quest was made for some action to be taken on these items before June 29, 1982 Bond Referendum. Negotiations with four key city councilmcn and city administration staff came to a virtual stand-still and no action had been taken by the City Council. Moreover, in a subsequent meeting on June 7, 1982, the City Council failed to even approve the com promise plan for NCR-54 in concept.!?! A June 21, 1982 special session of the City Coun cil initiated-by Chester Jenkins, and designed to ad dress the issues 'raised by the DCABP and HDC, could hot vgct a quorum. At the regular session which followed, however, the Council approved a motion which adopted the NCR-54 compromise plan in concept, subject to feasibility studies, targeted $3.0-$3.6 million to Hayti, which included the $1.5 million already appropriated. And finally, in a special session on Fridav June 25, 1982, called by Councilman Ralph Hunt, the Council approved the concept of minority participation in the Civic CenterHotel Complex with a written guarantee for 30 by the developer. Dobson and Johnson, in all aspects of the construction and employment in the hotel and office building. It also approved a con- ' tract with HDC for one year for $65,XX) to help spur development. It behooves us to be fair when we describe a situa tion to the nublic. The HDC can play role that manv non-nrofit corporation in lhcrcUics playa if d Motion: inv Charfdti&1-i'VSdMMn I ," Angeles, Pennsylvania Development Corporation in Washington, D.C.. etc.). where partnerships with community organizations and municipalities have made areas grow and prosper. HDC demonstratcdJts work product long before this I'un 1 ding came to pass, and will continue. The rhetoric 6f the type "the City paid, the City is the boss" ig nores the fact thai Black People pay taxes ami should get a return . Did The Carolina Times sug gest that the Downtown Development Corporation was begging when city and county funds were used to support studies of a private hotel civic center complex? v To focus on the $65,000 and to ignore the othei factors which influenced the DCABP's support ol the Civic Center suggests that the Times may onl be trying to defend its editorial decision against the Civic Center, made before all of the facts outlined above occurcd; or maybe as the devil's advocate, ii is its role to always give the worst interpretation ol events. In this case that interpretation ignores a basic truism... Wc arc in the best position, we have been in years to push for quality development in Hayti, with the maximum input from local residents. We agree that much of what will happen will depend, as it has already, on our own initiative This in no way should minimize the obligation ol the City to support efforts to bring progress. A partnership of the city and community may be. the only way to heal old wounds and bring this Cil back to its place of prominence. Together Durham Will Soar!!! Several writers, black and white, have become d? the emphasis on them serve the purpose of wealthy from the profits that they have received distracting attention from the more , important from the sales of their books espousing the pro- ... tssues that blacks must confront in order to obtain blems that are peculiar to black malefemale Tela-; -equal footing in society? Finally, does the focus on tionships Seminars are held weekly that show ' "peculiar" interpersonal problems of blacks fulfill htarw hrw to handle the "unusual" difficulties a deep-seated emotional need of blacks to have so- that blacks encounter when males and females try, ; meone show personal concern (which is absent in a in rMatf in each other. Are these supposed "unique" problems signifi cant or more a creation of sociologists in search of an issue? Are these problems real or a figment of racist, heartless society), exploit this emotional need, and strengthen the view that . blacks arc culturally deficient? The damage may have already been done in that . . II i z . . -.. the imagination? Do these problems aeserve me . "y uiacus nave ior sucn a long period ot time telt enormous amount of attention that they receive or that their social needs were so "different" that it SATURDAY. JULY 13, 1S32-TKrCAr.SUrU TES-IS may be impossible to dislodge themselves from (hh ; view. The view may, indeed, satisfy an emotional need created by public relations people, confirmed by pseudo-psychologists and concretized by young blacks in search of acceptance. ' The average Aiqerican spends four hours each day watching television. Television is our window to the world. It tells us how everyone else across the country and around the world behaves. It tells us what our needs are and what we should do to satisfy them. It introduces us to ourselves. Without televi- sion most of us would not "know" what kind of people we are and how we do (and should) relate lo . . . i - t i t . cacn mncr. icicvision is uur pycnuiugitai ' physician-pharmacist, prescribing and fulfilling the 1 cure for our problems. It also creates the problems. If the interpersonal problems of black people . were as bad as we are told, the black family wotld be non-existent. It would have been destroyed decades ago. Yet. it remains strong and vitalized. Dr. Billingsley, president of Morgan State Univcrsi . ty in Baltimore, Maryland, is a widely rccognicd (Continued on Page 16) . MM U. MYMOIM TCMCCO Ca ttrs tas vfiaaGlfc Mm. l(.-.4.rf t'..c : Share the spirit Share the refreshment Smooth mild Salem menthol. Nathaniel B. White, President, HDC Durham Jr. Edgemont Contest We take this opportunity to extend a sincere ex pression of gratitude for the excellent support and coverage which The Carolina Times gave to our. Minister's Popularity Contest. The interest you took in this effort really gave it a new spirit and momentum. We are deeply grateful lor this. Our contest was indeed a success as we topped our goal of $1,500 by $300. . . .Please know that (hough out contest has ended we will continue to promote -The Carolina Times for it is truly an immeasurable asset. . P.. Thorpe, Chairman Joan Burton. Director- . Edgemont Community Center Durham " - U.S. 'No Talks' Policy In his article "Policy Of No Talks With SWAPO and PLO by U.S. Short Sighted", I interpret some of what Mr. Curtis T. Perkins was telling us. That is without changes, t here, vcan be no growth to any country. We must learn to accept changes. Your newspaper and Mr. Perkins are to he complimented on his point well taken. Thomas B. Smalls 1 Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. New York, New York , - s f-V C 5r SIX .m7'v7ot 1111 K ) - idMi ti 5) r, - A;-?- - i Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health. ifcSMf KING: 15 mg. ''tar", 1.1 mg. nicotine av. per cigarette by FTC method; lOOV. 15 mg."tar".1.1 mg. nicotine av. per cigarette, FTC Repo' HEC. '81.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 10, 1982, edition 1
15
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75