Interviews

I was really interested in tracking down some of the people involved in the grants I am researching to get a better feel for the decisions involved for who was to receive benefits and who did not. The goal of the Community Development grants (even to date) was to put the money in local hands under federal guidelines. Well, unfortunately the people who were in charge of administering the grant have either died or moved south but I was able to track down a vocal citizen quoted in many local accounts of the time (roughly from 1977-1980). Raymond Burgess was a housing association leader in the East Ward who was quoted as saying, "the town has failed to allow meaningful input through citizen participation...The racial and ethnic polarization of this town and the reflective attitudes of the administration have adversely and negatively effected the application (of the grants)." Burgess and his Citizen's Improvement League challenged the town's 1977 application to HUD on the grounds they did not involve community input as required or the use of minority contractors as required. Burgess is now a man in his 80's and living in a neighboring town but I look forward to speaking with him - it took a lot to convince him I was legit and was not going to rob him.