Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2014 06:26:56 -0800
From: jenniferragins@att.net
Subject: A Tribute to Mayor Barry
To: jenniferragins@att.net
A Tribute to Mayor Marion S. Barry
In 1981 I was elected by the community, serving as the first President of the Bates Area Civic Association. During my 2 ½ year tenure, we received considerable support and assistance from Mayor Barry.
The mayor wanted the enterprise to serve as a model for similar initiatives. As such, the city invested surmountable resources to reengineer traffic structures, streets, alleys, lights, and sidewalks, advancing also our water and sewer system.
The rehabilitation of the Bates area, was a historic investment, preserving the architectural and sociological vision of Dr. George Miller Sternberg, president of the Washington Sanitation Company. The community design entailed specifications, addressing housing and insanitary conditions that once plagued the greater Shaw area.
Finally, as we all know, management and quality control systems, for the Bates initiative were not effective, supporting all phases of the plan. The challenges were fueled by an enormity of urban renewal goals, authorized by the Reorganization Act of 1968.
Years later the mayor would reflect on issues associated with the Bates enterprise, emphasizing, however, a need for clean, decent, affordable houses, affecting the common man, low wage earners, and children who live and exist in poverty.
Thank you Mayor Barry
The Gazette
Bates Area Civic Association 