In Commemoration Of Dr. Martin L. King's Birthday See Stories On Pages 5B, 6B, 7li. 811. up port in the last five years "Beginning in 1904 when they were started to eradicate poverty, the community ac tion agencies received much support." he said But in 1968, the support began to decline and as a result other federal programs were imple mented to do similar thi.vs such as Revenue-Shame ;ιη·ι the Community Block grants "But these grants were in the hands of the svstem and the poor peop!'.· did in · si ar< in the administraiι·. ι a el he continued "For a program mic! as ours to be successful we need the support of the community For instance, the local govern ment has to match th·· fun'ls we get and as we get more funds the matching has · ι increase The Charlotte Area Fund is structured with on·· third of the board Iteing représenta tives of the poor one third being elected officials and one-third being in private in dustrj Λιονν, he sain ·α< Nave has· cally onl> the support of the poor "It makes^ il difficult to operate. he added But Kornegay believes The Charlotte Area Fund will live on despite its critics primarily because it is a program that offers direct assistance to the poor We have the only program that provides the poor to have input and the only one in which they have a say,' he explain ed Two of the major programs .are Head Start which serves .ifWi low income pre-schoolers in the city and county and CRISIS by which up to $150 in emergency assistance to wards restoration of heating and other housing necessities can be granted Sam Korn< 4ay invites any one who has any questions concerning the Charlotte Area Fund and the many programs that it sponsors to come by his office, or one of the many centers to pick up a brochure or. its many programs Welfare Also Mentioned Frequently Of ihe 101.358 "North Caro lina Tomorrow" survey forms received statewide, about 20 percent -· 19.896 - were sent by black North Carolinians And of these black respon dents, the economy was listed as the greatest problem facing the state by five to one. The survey, sponsored by Gov. Jim Hunt and the State Goals and Policy Board, was conducted this fall throughout the state to give citizens an opportunity to participate in the state government deci sion-making process As the chief citizen advisory agenc;. in state government, the Boa rd will make recommends tions to the governor for short .. 1 « * · >··.χ >'··(, ι 4115V .lUIUMUIIS ιυ the problems based on survey results The questionnare asked re spondents to name the biggest problem facing the state, and to explain what state govern ment should do to solve that problem The survey also dea It with satisfaction with ser vice delivery, taxes and the overall quality of life in North Carolina Thirty three percent of all blacks volunteered the matter of ;obs. unemployment and the economy as their major oriC'Tn This percentage compares to the 18 2 percent throughout the state who list ed the economy as the top problem As solutions to this problem IJIacks suggested creating more jobs, bringing new industry into the state, ar.d paying better wages I'he next most frequently mentioned problem among blacks who participated in the survey was welfare, which %wis still listed by only 6.3 percent Top solutions were eliminating unqualified reci pients and putting people to work Kducation was ranked third among blacks respondents, with 5 6 percent This percen tage is compared to the 13 9 percent seen statewide on the problem of education, making it the second most frequently listed concern Blacks sugges ted stopping busing, better funding for public schools and teaching basic skills as pri mary solutions («her problem areas often mentioned by black North Carolinians were crime-law enforcement (4 percent i, tax es <3 5 percent) and housing <3 1 percent) Housing was listed about three times more often bv blacks than whites Like other North Carolin ians who completed the sur vey. many blacks expressed strong dissatisfaction with welfare Twenty-two percent of all blacks indicated strong dissatisfaction with housing, as well, compared to only 12 percent statewide Like others across the slate, they showed satisfaction with community colleges, but noticeable satis faction with no other single service area On lax issues, the opinions of blacks differed They favo red maintaining the taxes on personal income, business in come and business inventories at their present levels, as well See ECONOMY On Page 3 .. η r wnere people can have easy "nationally, community ac idify (Muncuman non Leeper Reports To District Representatives By Jeri Harvey Post Staff Writer Representatives from each voting precinct of District 3, as well as other interested persons, were among a crowd of approximately 60 people who met with newly-elected city councilman, Ron Leeper last Thursday night The mee ting, at Amay James Commu nity Center, served several purposes, according to beep er. "It gave me a chance to bring the people of my district up-to-date on what's taken place in the council since election time and allowed them a chance to voice their concerns to me about issues I may not already be aware of We also took our first steps toward organizing the dis trict," he said. Among other things, I^eeper reported to the gathering a request he has made to the council that all boards and committees be studied care fully as vacancies occur, to determine if blacks, other mi norities and women are fairly represented, and to make new appointments based on those findings. He also emphasized that close attention should be given geographic representa tion in view of the redistrict ing. Leeper reported, too, that "council has already approv ed sidewalks for Clanton Road which, hopefully, will be com pleted by late summer. Wes terly Hills is one of the next sections slated for sidewalk construction as soon as funds are available," he added Proposals for improving the city transit system will be presented jointly, by Leeper and Bob Carroll, at the next meeting of council. "That was one of the main concerns I heard as 1 campaigned," Lee per said, "and I've done a lot of talking and listening to people since then, trying to come up with ways to make the system better serve the needs of the present riders and to encourage new riders in order to eliminate congestion in the downtown area " One suggestion Carroll and leeper plan to make is that the downtown business com munity be asked to become involved in a rebate plan During Thursday evening s meeting, two representatives from each voting precinct we re chosen to serve on a district committee Spencer Thomp son was selected as acting chairman Leeper sees members of the district committee as liasons between him and the wider constituency he serves "The se people will be in contact with members of their com munity and will be able to bring issues and concerns to my attention and. in turn, will be able to carry back accounts of my actions." he pointed out Terry Hogan. a resident of the recently annexed Paw Creek community, attended the meeting, at I>eeper's invi tation. I>eeper said he wanted residents of that area to be aware that he is willing to assist them in whatever ways he can until new lines are drawn and they are assigned to a particular district Ms. Hogan voiced the opin ion that I>eeper is sincerely interested in being a represen tativt "of the people" and described an incident that See LEEPER On Page 6 Ron Lecper Heads informal meeting similar to one presently used by some department stores Upon presentation of a stamp ed sales slip at certain lots, a portion of the customer s par king fee is absorbed by the store where he stopped Why not extend this to the bus customer and allow a portion of his bue fare to be paid by the stores'". Leeper asked "We see this as just one of the Incentives to bus riding that need to be explored, he continued In Statewide Survey Blacks List Economy As State's Greatest Problem