R2000-67 AUTHORIZING CONTRACT OR CONTRACTS

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INTRODUCTION: A prominent, national figure, speaking to a gathering of ctergy, politicians, community activists, and members of assorted media services,once said this about the plight of the nation's poor: `?he best thing one can do for a poor child is to provide his father with a decent, dign"►f'red job and ger out of the famfly's way!" How remarkably easy that all sounds. Even more, this statement provokes a sense or despera- ' tion and urgency in most listeners/readers, one that seems to convey that the plight of poor peo- ple, after examining the projects, programs and outputs of economic development initiatives, . has [all] but been abandoned in favor of other economic considerations. The above proposition, however, when delved into for some level of useful analysis, results in several questions for local discussion and debate: 1. Is the answer to the economic problem for the instant pool of poor families that simple? 2. Are municipal, county and metropolitan economic development policy and programs equipped plenary enough to adhere to this basic redistribution principle? 3. Are poor people actually maned in the quagmire cr+eated by past and present urban redevel- opment, commerciai and residential displacement and the challenges faced by political economies for their survival,which have contributed to a vacuum in local economic develop- ment for poor families? 4. Have well�ntended advocates for the poor ignored the link between politics and jobs? 5. Are affected families prepared to satisfy the requisites associated with our changing econ- omy and companioned job market? 6. Is, then, economic development an exact science, or is it determinant of politics and public policy deliberated and decided by decision makers in favor of private sector investment and governance,outside of the needs and participation of poor and other affected people? I do nat intend to volley blame at the current municipal government for faulty economic develop- ment policy and programs. Nor do I seek to deliver all poor people to the door of local govern- ment and demand that they be provided with immediate employment at a living wage. What I do seek is to have city government, as the major part in Decatur's economic developmerrt machin- ery, become the depository of inclusive and expanded economic development-related thought, so as to be prepared to receive subsequent proposals and plans of action specific to impending matters which will be advanced. I, by no means, see myself nor the agency in which I direct as an economic developer; my staff and I are in the business of developing young people,far too many of them being the derivatives of families and living arrangements which do not afford them with the opportunities for life's chances. In far too many cases, this is the plight and stniggle for members of the organization, having very little, if any,to do with their morality or day to�day decisions. About a decade ago, a friend told me a story about a female headed household, whose middle child was told to attend school, stay out of trouble, make good grades, and, overall, make his mother proud. At the end of the day, the child was [still] poor and isolated . . . [still] outside of the parameters of life's chances because he and his family are politically invisible. What happens to these and other poor families? Its clear to me that much of stations at where members of the Decatur Boys and Girls Club and other children, similarly-�ituated, find �em- selves has to do with economic-related matters, and we, as a community, must begin to rethink the manner by which resources are distributed and consumed for the good of all of them. 1