Topic: US Dept. of Justice

County Ad Hoc Committee hears citizens redevelopment ordinance concerns

September 13, 2008 |

“Listening to Montgomery County citizens is the purpose of county government.” – County Mayor Carolyn Bowers

The county’s Redevelopment Ad Hoc Committee met with community spokespersons recently to address concerns about the city’s redevelopment and urban renewal ordinance.

County Mayor Carolyn Bowers, County Commissioners Ron Sokol, Martha Brockman and Mark Banasiak, comprise the ad hoc committee on the redevelopment plan at the county level.

The ad hoc group met with a group of citizens representing minority community concerns. Attending were the meeting organizer, Terry McMoore, executive director of the Urban Resource Center; his wife Wanda McMoore; Turner McCullough Jr., a local community affairs and grassroots activist; Jimmy M. Garland Sr., Clarksville NAACP branch president and 3rd Vice President of the Tennessee State Conference NAACP; Candy Johnson, candidate for City Council Ward 5, and Pastor Timothy Grant, Deliverance Outreach Temple.

Mayor Bowers expressed appreciation for the group meeting with the committee to give input of citizens concerns with the redevelopment initiative underway.“Listening to Montgomery County citizens is the purpose of county government,” said County Mayor Bowers. «Read the rest of this article»

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Happy 43rd Anniversary, 1964 Civil Rights Act! Title VI Compliance Still MIA In Clarksville

July 4, 2007 |

We are now in the 43rd anniversary year of the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That’s quite a milestone for the nation. Sadly, it’s a dark anniversary for Clarksville and the state of Tennessee. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law on July 2nd of that year. (Pictured left.)

Tennessee State Archives records show our own state legislature didn’t adopt it into the state’s law code until 1993. That’s twenty-nine years after it had became the law of the land! The law of the land, that is, except for the State of Tennessee.

That lag in time may help explain why our own city council has refused, even now, to adopt Title VI of that law, as the city’s official non-discrimination policy. There is a policy statement on display in city offices and the city’s website, to be sure. However, since it is required that the legislative controlling body of local government formally adopt Title VI mandates as official policy to receive federal financial assistance, these displays are meaningless without the council’s follow-thru. A mayoral proclamation is inapplicable. As TDOT’s Commissioner Nicely noted in August 2005, the city is not in compliance with the federal law. «Read the rest of this article»

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Title VI Compliance- After 43 Years Where Does Clarksville Stand?

June 12, 2007 |

July will mark the 43rd anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One of the most powerful planks of that law is Title VI. “Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.” In a nutshell, Title VI stipulates that no state, nor any agency of a state, no municipal or city government; no postsecondary or local educational agency or any private entity contracting or partnering with any of the aforementioned governmental entities, shall discriminate in programs and activities which receive federal financial assistance, based on race, ethnicity, color, or national origin.

In calling for its enactment, President John F. Kennedy identified “simple justice” as the justification for Title VI:

“Simple justice requires that public funds, to which all taxpayers of all races contribute, not be spent in any fashion which encourages, entrenches, subsidizes, or results in racial discrimination. Direct discrimination by Federal, State or local governments is prohibited by the Constitution. But indirect discrimination, through the use of Federal funds, is just as invidious; and it should not be necessary to resort to the courts to prevent each individual violation.” See H. R. Misc. Doc. No. 124, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., 3, 12 (1963). «Read the rest of this article»

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