Update on the City's Transition from the Atlanta Empowerment Zone to the Renewal Communities Initiative

As presented to the Atlanta Planning Advisory Board (APAB) 4/19/03 by Beverly Dockeray-Ojo on behalf of Commissioner Charles Graves

Disolving the AEZC

• The Atlanta Empowerment Zone Corporation (AEZC) is currently reviewing the disbursement drawdowns for each benchmark that was funded under the Title XX funds and preparing the proposed EZ Equipment Disposition Plan.
• The Mayor, serving as Chair of the Atlanta Empowerment Zone Corporation (AEZC) Executive Board, has tried to dissolve the AEZC Executive Board. During the first meeting, the Executive Board members postponed the vote until after a work session was held. After the work session, the Chair could not guarantee a quorum due to scheduling conflicts.
• At present, the City is in the process of drafting a resolution that will dissolve the AEZC. This resolution will likely be submitted to the Executive Board members within the next week.
• Assuming the Executive Board members vote in favor to dissolve the AEZC Executive Board, then all of its responsibilities will be transferred to the Atlanta Coordinating Responsible Authority Board (A-CoRA).

Implementing the Renewal Community (RC)

• The A-CoRA will have a Board of Directors consisting 7 persons made up as follows: 2-EZ residents, 1-RC resident, 3-Business Representatives (from the EZ/RC Community) and 1-City Representative.
• The EZ and RC will have the responsibility of identifying their representative(s) for the A-CoRA Board.
• The City is currently waiting to hear from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for guidance on several key items, including what form the CoRA Board should take, in what areas the remaining Title XX (or Empowerment Zone) Funding can be spent, and whether or not subcontractors of the CoRA Board will have the ability to access Title XX Funding. No matter what form the CoRA Board takes, the community will have adequate representation both in selecting its members and through its members’ service on the new Board.
• The A-CoRA Board will have oversight responsibilities over the Renewal Community and the remaining Title XX funds and will work with the community providers to achieve program objectives.
• The City is currently in contract negotiations with the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Authority (ANDP) to form the CoRA Board as a non-profit corporation and enter into a management agreement with this organization to serve as the CoRA manager of the remaining Title XX Funds.
• We expect these contract negotiations to be finalized by April 21, 2003. The contract language will then be submitted to the Atlanta City Council and APAB on April 21, 2003 for review. On April 28, 2003 a scheduled questions, answers, and comments work session for the NPU’s will be held at City Hall East, 6:00pm. On April 29, 2003 the contract will be presented to the City Council’s Community Development/Human Resources Committee. If the Committee votes affirmatively, the contracts could be submitted to the full City Council on May 5, 2003.

Please Note: Due to changes in the proposed management contract, this worksession has been cancelled until further notice. The contract will not be presented at the 4/29 CD/HR Committee meeting nor the 5/5 full Council Meeting.

Re-benchmarking and Community Input

• The Annie E. Casey Foundation (Foundation) of Baltimore, Maryland is exploring the option of assisting the City of Atlanta with the reprogramming process. Specifically, the Foundation has offered to facilitate a charette (or an intensive two to three day working meeting where all interested parties would come together to discuss the Integrated Strategic Plan. The community will have a seat at the table during these discussions, and its representation on the CoRA Board will ensure that the remaining Title XX Funds are spent according to its most current needs.
• The starting points will be the original EZ Strategic Plan and the Amended EZ Programs. The process will include looking at the RC Strategic Plan (the RC application and the Tax Incentive Utilization Plan), the City’s 5 Year Comprehensive Plan, and other economic development plans and human services need assessment plans to form an “Integrated Strategic Plan” for the region.
• The reprogramming process will begin as soon as the CoRA Board is in place. We anticipate that the Atlanta City Council will approve the task of incorporating the CoRA Board to the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc (ANDP) on May 5, 2003. The goal of the CoRA Board will be to reorganize the remaining Title XX Funds with the current human services needs of the residents of the RC and EZ and the economic development needs of these two geographic areas.