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FB 27AB (Tape A)

Sub: David E. Randolph

Int: "Button Project"

Delray Beach

7-23-75

A.M.

Page -1-





I: ...... how well the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has helped blacks take part

in Florida politics. Now uh, what year did you first register to vote?

D: Uh, I registered initially in 19..... I believe it was 63 in Gary, Indiana.

At that time I was a serviceman and uh, I voted by absentee ballot.

I: I see. Now um, what year were you first eligible to register to vote?

D: At that time I believe the legal voting age was twenty-one and so that

should have put me...... I guess around '58, '59.

I: Uh, how were you registered--by local registration board, federal examiner?

D: Uh, it was by local, uh, local _board.

I: Did the local registrars ever turn you down when you tried to register?

D: No. In fact, they were most helpful.

I: Have voter registration drives been held in the district in which you hold

office?

D: Uh, yes. In fact, I 'm a member of the Delray Beach Civic Association and

Organization uh, which is designed to uh, upgrade uh, people in the community

by.... by health, education, welfare, and general community standards. And)

uh, this organization,uh, under my urging, got together and we decided to

put on a voter registration drive. And it's done over one weekend, uh, Friday









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: and Saturday and we registered uh, something like uh, 350 black voters.

Uh, it was a..... I think we possibly could have registered more had we

had the liberty of a mobile type,uh, registration-type procedure.

I: Mmm hmm.

D: Uh, but these were all stationary in various businesses uh, in the black

community. And I felt, for that weekend, that we were quite successful

and uh, I know the Civic League is also planning another. And I have talked

to the chairperson of the Civic League and uh, we're going to provide some

of the people that we already havethat are qualified to do this particular

type of work to them and so maybe next time the drive will.... will be quite

more successful.

I: Um, now) you just named one other organization that's held a drive. Are there

any others local or national that have been in the area?

D: Well, as I said, the Civic League) which has been uh, uh, moreso the spearheading

development in the community. Uh, I don't know of really any others that have

..... have really pushed voter registration uh..... locally. Other organizations

outside of the local area have come in and ya know tried to push it. I know

uh, the county has put on uh, on a couple where they've had the mobile vans

down for... for registration. Now how successful these were, I do not know.

I: Um, now these voter registration drives, when- have they been held?

D: You said when or where?

I: Yeah, like when? Yearly?

D: Oh. Well, no it's not.... it's not been an established uhlschedule uhlbut

generally I think the trend has been uh, to hold them uh, sufficiently in

advance of an election, of a coming election. I know the one that we held

was..... oh I guess it was about six months prior to the general election

here locally and uh, the important thing that I think in holding these drives


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FB 27AB (tape A)


D: is when you get people registered, make sure you know where they live and

this kind of thing so at election time that you can assist in getting them....

getting them out to the pole to vote, Because just to get a person registered

doesn't mean anything unless they actually go to the pole and exercise that

right.

I: Mmm hmm.

D: And uh, this has been something that the Civic League and also the Delray Civic

Association have been trying to do. Uh, in as much as)uh, we get cars and

get uhypolo workers and uh, and y know uh, people to drive the cars and go

around to the people and actually try to get them out to the pols to vote.

We found that uh, the ....... We could get more people out to vote if we

concentrated our effort in the evening hours because most of the people are

working people and they get off at FOO0, 5:30-in the evening and Ta have
se:c-r. (y' l)|
to..... between 5r30 and,say -700 get them to the pol's. And uh, well generally,

the average housewife is right in the middle of supper then so you have to

keep urging them to....... Well, it's important that you get out to vote. So,

,ya know, let us pick you up at..... if it's -6-3 and get you to the polps.

And it's been.... it's been working fairly.... fairly good.

I: Well I guess you've gone over how successful these voter registration drives have been.

Um, well are there anything which prevent blacks from registering to vote in

your district?

D: Not to my knowledge.

I: Now um, I have something"that I'd like you to rate and please comment on and

if you'd like to just call out the individual categories. These are how

important ,u--l lfWk each of the following items are in preventing blacks from

registering;to vote.

D: Well number one, economic dependence on white..... onn whites. I think uh......









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: I would rate that fairly important.

I: Why is that?

D: Well, in this area there's little or no industry. Uh, most of the blacks in

this area uh, well I'd say...... a good percentage of the blacks in this area

are either migrant farm laborers, or maids and are lawn-maintenance type

of personneland uh, so they are economically dependent uh, upon whites. Uh,

because if we had some black industry in the area, in which there's none,

uh we have a few black businesses but the employment rate is.... is nil$ as

far as percentages are concerned. So, we as blacks are.... are basically

dependent upon the whites for our li~ihood and for our economic structure.

So, this is why I... I would rate this as fairly important in..... Iell, not

really in preventing blacks from uh, from voting but uh, let's take for example,

on the other hand, if blacks owned a lot of the businesses in the communityuh,

it... it... it would help. It would help your situation. I'm a businessman

myself so I'm free and at liberty to go and basically do as I please. I'm

not totally dependent.... dependent upon whites for my economic uh, well-being.

And so, this helps me. If I..... If I were say working for uh, a white firm

there would be virtually no way I could hold a job as a councilman in the

city of Delray. Because the requirements for this job are .... are really

mean. And by mean, I mean that, uh, some of the requirements to do things,

you must.... ya know you must be at liberty to go uh, at will. And if you

can't do this, you can't hold that job. You must also have uh, a fairly decent

uh, eco..... you must be in a fairly good economic steaddle.... uh, financial)

uh)because I'm called out to meetings uh, many announced and unannounced all

times of day and.... and night. And uh, and so you've got to be really sort s


I -


I I-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: self-employed to do this particular type of thing.

I: Right.

D: Uhfear of physical violence from whites, uh, I don't think that's important

at all because uh, I must commend the community of Delray by saying it's....

it's one of the most common sense type communities as far as black-white

relationship that I've been in a long time. They have no problems here. I'd

say little or no problems. Uh, problems that are created here are created by

uh, people who want to create these type of problems. Uh, and as we get further

inI'll... I'll explain that remark.

I: Wanna mark it down sa ei___ ?

D: Uh, complicated registration forms. I don't think that's important at all

because uh, even in ..... in going down to register uh....., ell let's say

..... let's say at this c- When we were registering uhpeople for

example, at my business place and myself and,I believe my wife were the uh,

were the uh.... what do you call it? What do you call~it when you.... when

you are given the authority to register people to vote? Try to think of the.....

I: Registrars all I can think of.

D: Yeah well registrars at the... at the store. And there are some people uh, who

came that.... that basically could not sign their names. But I think a

good uh registrar uh in his fair explanation of what the forms are, they

have no problems. Have no problems at all. So, I ... I don't think that

this is an important factor. Poor registration hours. Uh, I really don't

think this is a factor at all. I.... I think that if a person really wants

to register to vote uh, it's ..... it's of little or no consequence for

them to get out and do this. The thing is to get.... to help inform people









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: as to how important it is to vote. Uh, back in the...in the days)I guess,

following '64 and the Civil Rights and a few otherethings)uh, I don't think

the interest was there among uh, the average white person to get out and

register to vote because we always had to kill the old c-ai tha t

you know I'm just one person and my vote is not gonna count' But if everyone

in the world thought this way)you would.... you would basically elect no one.

And uh, our predemocratic society would no longer be free. Registration

not held often enough. Uh....... I think uh, that this is really not a factor

and it's not important because I think uh, let's see, that the books are...

are open uh, but I think to get people to vote, you have to get the books close

to them...uh, by putting efi in the community. I know there's a couple of

places here uh that are..... are standard registration areas and that's like

the city hall which is almost centered in the community. Uh the South County

uh, Palm Beach County uh, court uh..... South Palm Beach County uh annex,

courthouse annex which is located right out here on ..... on Pinehurst. Uh)it's

..... it's all within arki-nda-.... within a short reach of the average person

that wanted to register to vote. But the thing is is the education process.
A-VIC r-
If you get e~i educated to vote, then fine, you can probably get some of them

out to.... to do it.

I: There's one other point there that I didn't write down, it's um, re-registration

effects.

D: Re-registration effects?

I: Mmm hmmm.

D: Uh, how o _I ,--______. ?

I: Well in um some areas, if you haxi't voted within a certain amount years, two

or three years, you have to register again and they were assuming that since

um, maybe blacks hadn't regist..... hadn't voted that they would have to


--I


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FB 27AB (tape A)


I: register again and it would be even harder the second time to get them to

register.

D: I don't.... I don't really think so. I .... I .. I think that uh, ypo.r thing li-C_

j- again and I.... and I hate to keep carping on this educational uh, fact,

but it.... but it is. It's a true life fact that to get a person to vote

initially is to educate him as to the importance of -exeerising his right to

vote. So if you do not.... If someone doesn't take the interest to go to

this person or ... or put out and it's almost uh, I don't I don't type-

education. You can put out all the leaflets, all the pamphlets that you want.

Many of the people)when they receive them will take it as another piece of

unwanted mail, discard it into the trash uh recepticle and .... and there

goes your opportunity. But, if you get to those.... these people and eye-

ball to eyeball contact like many of the organizations are trying to do. Go

to em and talk to them and tell them about the importance of getting out to

vote. I've found that uhhh)for example here in Delray, if you have, uh, a

black candidate that's running/your percentage of voting is much much higher.

Well it should stay this way whether you have a black candidate or a white

candidate because afte/all, these are the people who are governing you So,

uh, it's uh,..... it's one of the most awesome tasks uh that I've ever seen

to get people interested in voting...... Iell first to get em registered and

the second thing is to generate that interest, getting em out to the poll

no matter what the.... what the issue may be. AndluhI think,uh,it's real

important to do these. And without these organizations, without the people

who uh, has this interest in.... in the people who are in the community, you'd

never get in the top list. So your civic leagues uh, uh, and I... I always









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: think that the ministers can help because they have groups with the greatest

concentration of people within the community and generally if a minister

say something, it rings a bell, it sticks with members of its congregation.

And this is why I've been working as closely as I possibly could with

ministers. I... I don't want to throw politics into the church but I do

think that the minister really uh has the grip on the people if he'll only

use it. And we have two or three real enterprising ministers uh in the

community who will... will... will attempt just this. To get that congregation

out to register, second thing is to get em out to vote. But not only when

there's a black candidate or a black issue involved but when there's any

issue involved, we should get the people out to vote.

I: Mmmm hmmm.

D: So it's a..... It's a big job. And I think I've just about covered the... the

next one) indifferences of blacks to voting.

I: Mmm hmmm.

D: Uh, and it's ....... I think uh, ............. I would say uh, that it has

no bearing. It's not important and so and I must say this from knowing the

community and I've only been here now for about six..... six years but uh,

it's a.... it's a really sensible community and so we don't have.... we have

little or no problems here.

I: Now there's another last one that I forgot to put down. Um it's a drawing

of district lines. Has this hindered blacks?

D: No because uh, Delray is uh, is at large.

I: Mmm hmmm.

D: And uh, I think I would.... I think I would fight any attempt to district

delegates. I really would.









FB 27AB (tape A)


I: Yeah.

D: I think it should remain at large. Uh, I think that uh, no matter where

a person lives, he's qualified to hold an office then let the voters

decide whether he's ....... whether he's qualified. I don't want to

say that just because this is a black community and this is district number

so-and-so that we must have a black represent us. Uh, I think that it

should be thrown to the entire community to decide who's the best qualified

to govern the city.

I: Mmmm hmmm. .Aright. Two more

of these afterwards so. Now the um, following section um, the questions

are asked to gather information on your campaign. Were you able to campaign

freely? Were you threatened in any way in your campaign?

D: No way. I.... I had a real, real good uh, campaign time as I like to call

it. I was encouraged first and foremost by uh, several members in the

community, black leaders and also I was encouraged by many whites to run.

And uh, so I... I... I can dispell any ... any part of rumors there that

uh, ya know uh, that may come up. Because uh, I say as.... as many.... there

was as many whites as there were blacks encouraging me to run for office,

public office.

I: Mmm hmm. Uh, were you handicapped by a lack of campaign money?

D: No)not really because uh, I limited my campaign contributions to a maximum

of $25.00. I didn't.... I felt that I wouldn't have to garner uh, a great

deal of money to win an election. I didn't want it that way. I wanted to

spend a minimum uh, on ... on the election, on my campaign. And this

I did. I think uh, my total spending for the both the primary and ... and









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: general was something in the neighborhood of $700.00. And uh, I thought

it was..... /.nd although I didn't rate low, I was very very close to the

..... uh, to the low spender. I think one other person was lower than I

was as far as spending was concerned.

I: O.K. why would did you decide to run for office?

D: (chuckle) Well, I never had really any desire to run for a public office

prior to my final decision to run. Uh, I thought thatuh, with the work

that I was doing in the community that I didn't necessarily have to be

an elected official to continue this work and I'm.... I was civic-minded

since the day I hit this uh, particular area. I was able to see some of

the things that I thought needed... needed upgrading as far as the community

was concerned and I immediately started in uh, to work on this. I was one

of the organiz..... organizers of the Delray Beach Civic Associationand uh,

it was just that the.community was sort of stale-mated. Uh, they actively

involved in some areas but involvement was... was not handled the way that

I thought it could be best handled to get some of the end products that

they wanted. Uh, we had uh...... I won't say radicals, but we had people

that was.... were..... was doing in the.... in the way that uh, that was

not generally acceptable to whites. To get something donejyou don't scream

and holler at anyone. You go in with a logical uh, intelligent approach,

uh, you hold fast, you don't have to raise your voice to get anything done.

Uh, but if you go in there with a logical and intelligent O; ))It.C'-generally

whites will accept you. Uh, I could.... I could fcsesay that if you came

to me wanting something done, if you came with a logical and intelligent

j P 1' i you would be far better in getting it done than if you came to me


I


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FB 27AB (tape A)


D: with the arrogant uh, outlook-type approach because you would turn me

off as soon as you came in and I think this is what was happening uh, in

this community. Uh, because although the leaders did a lot, but the

...... the.... the approach was not__

I: Mmm hmmm. So, actually um, this was..... Aas it your own decision

before somebody had approached you or.0. 7

D: No, no. No, no. I had no idea of running for public office but I was

approached uh, uh, by several people in the community and also several

whites uh, who asked me to consider to run.

I: Were they politically active or just concerned?

D: Just.... just concerned)I think.

I: O.K. Um, what.... what party do you belong to?

D: Democratic.

I: Um what were the two or three most important issues in which you campaigned?

And uh, let me just ask you um, have you run for more than one campaign?

D: No.

I: O.K. so, just specifically one.

D: First time around I was.elected. O.K.......... to answer...... to answer

that question on .... on my particular platform uh, I've always,uh,liked

a small place, a small community and Delray fitted that bill as far as

I was concerned in my decision to settle in a small place. I was born and

raised in Hillsborough County, lived in Tampa ya know all my uh, uh, childhood

and young-adult life before going to college and I just never really liked

a big city uh, particularly when it comes to raising kids. And so, my

wife is from this area. She was born and raised here. So, when I was

in the service we'd come home on leave and we would uh, always visit....

visit both parents in Tampa and here in Delray. And so, I... I just became


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FB 27AB (tape A)


D: attached to Delray. It was a seemed like a small nice community that had

a lot of greenery and uh, so one of my uh, platform uh, issues was based

on keeping density as low as possible. The other one was uh, to improve

what uh, I had felt that was to improve ,dw enforcement in the area. To

take a good look at law enforcement and see where you could... we could help

by better equipment uh, better-educated policeman)both from the ranking

file and also from the uh, the heads of.., of ... of the department. And

much of this we've been able to do) and I'm real)real happy of... of that uh,

because we haveluh, one of the uh, best police chiefs,I think now in the

country. He was rated uh, in the top ten on.... he was in uh, I believe

his last duty station somewhere out in I believe Wisconsin. So, we have

him now as a chief.... as a chief and uh, uh, he's doing a .... a tremendous

job here in... in the city. But those were the two major issues, density

and uh, and law enforcement.,

I: Mmm hmm. Well do you think these issues were the main problems facing

the blacks at the time you campaigned?

D: Uh, not density as far as the blacks were concerned but law enforcement uh,

was definitely one. Uh, also upgrading, general upgrading of the community/

uh, uh it's envirdment such as streets uh, sidewalks uh, sewage, and this

kind( thing. It just a general uh, problem areas that effect any community)

and uh, we-afe sort of working on this. For example, .eV-n, before I came

here I think there was an effort to get some traffic lights in the community

because uh, uh, we had uh, I guess something like f4eeen or 18,000 blacks

in the community and we had one traffic light and uh, in the..... well, what

I.... I call the uh, central business district for black businesses, was....

is located right on the state road. There was no way to curtail the uh,

or to reduce the speed, uh the accident rate and this kinda thing. So,


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FB 27AB (tape A)


D: that was one of the first things that I worked onto gather a few traffic

lights for the community. And uh, we made several attemp.... attempts

and all of them were denied. The last attempt.thiat we made, which was

also denied, but we were successful in getting the county government to

see that although there's a manual that says that you do not rate traffic

lights because of... of statistics, uh, there was a human element involved)

and this is how we won the traffic lights based on the human element at

this site. So, it's the approach and uh, and the pattern of approach

and inigetting things done. And referring back to you don't go up and

scream and holler at em, you go ip and present it to-ef logically and intellectually,

and generally you'll get it.

I: And so that um, housing and the traffic system and sewage were main

problems facing blacks?

D: Yes.

I: O.K. Um, now the next section um, the questions are asked to determine,

some of the conditions which have enabled blacks to win office in Florida.

And as you say before, you were elected at large. True?

D: Yes, I was elected at-large.

I: O.K. um, these following questions refer to district. Well, we'll just

keep it at-large.

D: O.K.

I: How many people are in Delray?

D: In Delray? Right now it's estimated some.... somewhere between twenty-eight

and 30,000.

I: O.K. Uh now, what percentage of this was black?

D: Uh, I'd say about 42, 43 per cent of that total are black.


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FB 27AB (tape A)


I: O.K. And about what percentage of the blacks are voting age in your

district or in the .... in the area are registered to vote?

D: Uh...... I'd say probably somewhere in the 18, 19, maybe 20 per cent

category.

I: Now about what percentage of the blacks who are registered to vote, do

you estimate actually voted when you were elected?

D: About 50 per cent of those registered voted. Because we had a... another

strong black candidate who was.... who was running so this... this made

the community interest a little more... a little.harr-ier than it.... I think

normally would have been.

I: Mmmm hmmm. I see. Do you uh, believe that you got any votes from whites?

D: Most definitely. I uh, .... I carried the white community whereas, I.... I

lost both in the primary and the general to the black cand.... the other

black candidate. Because he was born and raised here uh, he had been very

active in) h, in civic and community law. He was a minister, a young

minister in the community and I was just a ... a transplant of actually

i-T about four and half of five year uh, but background-wise, I think I

had him because I was a former servicemanjuh, when I got out of the service

I was a field raid officer in the rank of major and I think this helped uh,

because I was..... I think I had him because...... education-wise he didn't

possess a college degree but I did. Uh, and I don't think that's real

important but I do think it was a factor in the whites turning to me. The

second thing was that uh, I was I think uh, the whites classified me

more as a liberal than himself. Uh, he was more..... I think they classified

him more as the ..... the radical uh, although I don't think he's uh,


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FB 27AB (tape A)


D: purely radical but uh, I took a more liberal approach to problems than I

think he would have and uh, I guess the other thing was ..... was the issues

themselves. I think he ran strongly on law-and-order and I was not

so strong on law-and-order although it was one of my... my uh, campaign

platforms. But I dealt more in... in density and things that would

actually improve the.... well, not improve but not allow the community

to become a concrete jungle.

I: Right.

D: Y know and a lot of condominiums all over the place and everything uh,

because uh, as I said, I just wanted to see the community have some green

space and you can't do it by building condominiums completely over the

place.

I: Yeah. Um, just to backtrack a little bit um, you have a.... you had a

primary and a gen.... and you had a general election.

D: Yes. Yes.

I: Now in the primaryum, what percentage of the blacks voted?

D: It wasloh, it was very low. It was not uh, not.... real.... a real great

percentage of because I'm trying to think of some of the figures now. Uh,
-o(Pl( \.
for example, I think there was a tabke of..... I think one of the larger

precincts I think there was a total of around uh, probably seven or 800

people that voted in... in one of our larger precincts in.the... in the

black communityjand uh, I think uh, overall in the primary, he beat

me by something like less than 100 ..... 100 votes. And then in the

general I'm..... I closed the ..... the gap. And I think he beat me

something like,uh forty votes overall. But uh, again, uh, I don't think....


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FB 27AB (Tape A)


D: I don't think the voters themselves was looking at the qualification of

the men running. I think they were moreso looking at the hometown, well

what call the hometown uh, uh boy because he was born and raised here,

-in .1594T.-

I: ,Um, now about the white vote. About what percentage of your total vote

came from whites?

D: Uh, I'd say something like sixty-forty. About 60 per cent uh, as opposed

to 40 per cent of the.... of the.... of the black.

D: During uh...... .his is in the general, what about in the primary?

I: No, this was...... this was in... in really both because uh, had the

whites not voted for me like they did, I would not have been elected. Uh,

that's a ..... that's a knowAfact when you look at the a know.... look

at the total results of the..... of both the primary and the general. I

ran very strong in the breech:...... in the beach precincti uh which oh,

I guess uh has over...... around 900 to 1000 voters and that's one precinct.

And uh a person who can't carry the beach precinct can just about forget 40

being elected unless he's heavy in all the other precincts in town.

I: O.K. so uh, how many opponents did you have?

D: Well, there was two officers. Uh, one of the incumbents was seeking re....

re-elec..... re-election and this was one of the council, we only had one

on council, uh but she was very strong. Uh, she's been vice-mayor and all,

and uh it was almost common knowledge that she was going to win her seat

back. The other uh seat was vacated by a black, the first black to be

elected in the ...... in the community and he'd served on council for

six years then decided not to..... uh to seek re-election and so that

left uh, myself and the other candidate basically after that seat. And


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FB 27AB (tape A) -17-



D: uh, I was uh, fortunate enough to win it.

I: The other candidate was black also?

D: Yes.

I: O.K. and this.... the incumbent was a woman, did you say or.....

D: Yes.

I: A white woman.

D: Yeah, well see the mayor and two coudilm..... uh council members are elected

on odd years I believe and two council members on even years. So, it was

a year for the mayor and two council members that I..... that I.... that I

went in under.

(tape cuts off and side one still has tape left but not recording)

(Begin side 2)

I: Um, what percentage of the total vote did you get?

D: Of the total vote?

I: Yeah.

D: I ran uh..... I guess ran second ....... uh, and I think overall I was about

40...... 47 per cent of the total registered voters in the community that

turned out to the polys in the general elections. I don't remember what it

was in the primary. Uh....... I think I probably picked up ..... I guess

something in the neighborhood of about 50 to 51 per cent of the total votes.

I: And this is in the general election you're talking about?

D: Yes.

I: Well who was your opponent in the general election?

D: In the general election? Well, my opponent uh, I think wasI uh, well, at.....


I


I I I -I










FB 27AB (tape A)


D: at--large with two seats open and there was four candidates going for the

..... uh, for the... for the two seats. In the general election uh, I

would have to say that my opponent was the other black that was running.

I: Mmm hmmm.

D: Because this was basically the way that the uh, election was.., was built

up. That uh, the Reverend Taylor and myself was after the one seat and

Mrs. Crevalls uh and the other candidate was after the.... after the second

seat. And so, I would have to say that ..... that my opponent was uh, the

Reverend Tayor who was also black.

I: Now this next section the questions are asked to determine how well black

officials in Florida have been able to benefit those they represent. In what

ways do you think you have helped blacks in your district by holding office?

D: Well, .... that'a.... (chuckle) That's a.... that's a QoAd good question.

Uh, I would have to say that because of my background, and I do have an

extensive background in administration, management, and uh, a fairly good

knowledge of a budget. And those are, I feel && the key and critical

areas in the total picture of a.... of the operation of a city. Uh, if

you know budgets uh, if you understand budgets) uh, if you know administration

and management, I think you have the key to most of the problems that

will confront any council member. And since I'm..... and since my military

uh, experience...... was along these lines, I felt thattr I'm.... ya knowl

I'm better equipped uh to help the.., the black community. Uh, for example,

sewage has always been a problem in several areas in the black community.

And uh so I've been harping on this ever since I've been on council.


-18-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: To get sewage for all of the city, to upgrade uh, uh, some of the.... some

of the real bad roads and.uh, byways in the community, uh to get,uh, adequate

drainage in the community. And these are things that.... that I stay

on... on... on everyday. Uh, for example, I went on council believing that

we needed a full-fledged city inspector, one guy to really bird dog the city.

Make sure that people who had dilapidated homes, people who uh, did not

keep their property well manicured, that this individual would ..... would

be a watchdog for these things. Because uhI live in the heart of the

black community and uh just because..... I always say just because you live

in the jungle,you don't necessarily have to be a monkey. And uh, this is

my approach to it. I feel that.... I want to see my community just as

clean as any other community in the city. And so, I think uh, not to

turn on the community, but I think that sufficient pressures should be kept

on all uh residents of a.... of a community to see that their property

is well-groomed, their houses are painted within economic bounds. Uh, uh,

you can live in a framed structure and uh, not paint it for twenty years

and ..... and look at what you got. But if you can throw a coat of paint

on it every five or six years and that you have a lawn out front uh, doesn't

necessarily have to be one that's uh,maintained by a .... a maintenance many,

you can do it yourself. Uh, I do my lawn myself and uh, I work on it

continuously because I want to have uh, a fairly decent-looking home enviro-

ment. Some people could care less because they're in rental properties.

But I say put the pressure on the owner and if uh, you put sufficient pressure

on the owner, that means that he's gonna in turn have to put pressure on


-19-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: the tennant to keep his... his property looking .... looking good. Then if

it's.... if it's not kept or well-manicured and this kinda thing then

get rid of that tennant.

I: Have you had success with this drive?

D: Somewhat. Uh, I think that the city is improving quite a bit because when

I went on council.-yoU were having.... he city is real fortunate in as

much as we were providing I think one.... one trash pick-up at roadside about

every three or four weeks but now we've gone to once a week and it's... it's

helping the appearance of the city. In other words, if youth trimmed your

coconut palms and threw the ... the fronds out front, it's a big difference

of it laying there for three weeks as opposed to one week. And uh, these

are things that ...... that help any community. When... when you can... when

you can clean up that community once a week uh, ya know have pick-ups once

a week and uh, encourage the residents not to throw things out at these

pick-up points uh)say prior to twenty-four hours before pick-up or forty-

eight hours before pick-up. Because if you.... if... if the pick-up in

my area is on Friday and I come and clean my yard on Saturday, then that's

a whole week it's just gotta stay in the streets. And uh, so these are

things that uh, we are trying to get the people in the community to see.

That we're our... our own worst enemy because if it's cleaned up on Friday

and then we throw paper and trash out in the community, it's not hurting

anybody but ourselves because we have live there. And so, these are things

that we're.... we're pressing for. Uh, we have got actively involved into)

uh, the schools since most of the kids in Delray have to be bussed.... bussed

to adjoining communities. Uh, most.... Oell, a majority of the kids I would


-20-









B 27AB (tape A)


D: think in Delray has to be bussed to Boca which is some eight miles to

the south of us. And uh, I think organizations like the Civic Association

must keep watch on the schools and see that .... that our kids are treated fairly.

Uh, see that uh, that .... that if they're due beyond-&a-roll, then they

may-be-e*-a-rollarfd help them to maintain an attitude that although

you're bussed in this community, you want to carry that image that Delray

kids are just as good as the kids at Boca. That we know how to conduct

ourselves as well as the kids in Boca. Uh, we don't want to do anything

that uh, will .... will cause others to say wellthe kids from Delray are

radicals and this kindda thing. We want to put em down there with... with

a couple goals in mind. First and foremost, is your.....your educational

experience and then get yourself a good education. Uh, the federal government

has said that you would be bussed so don't hold that against the people

in Boca. Uh, go down and... and do your best while you're a guest -^

Lr .e..JrLi if I may use this term. Do the best you can. Keep up that

image that we feel that you should keep up. .-a know? Don't go down and

cause problems unnecessarily. So, we work very hard along these lines

to try to keep these uh, images of their city for em

I: 94K. What, if anything, has prevented you from doing a better jobjespecially

in regard to benefit.... benefitting blacks in your area.

D: Nothing. Nothing. Uh, other than uh, uh, uh, (chuckle) I'll say time.

That's ..... that's it. Because I think that uh, I could do almost anything

that I set out to do.

I: That's very good.

D: I really do. And I think that the only thing that would prohibit me from


-21-










FB 27AB (tape A)


D: doing it is.. is.. is really time and uh, like I said I work somewhere

in the.... in the neighborhood of ten to twelve hours a day at my regular

job and I manage uh, I manage a family-owned business. But uh, since

it is family-owned I'm a liberty to do more than if I was working for

somebody else. Like if there's a meeting I want to attend at -:OO in

the day and although my break uh, I've had my break if I wanna attend

that meeting I can go. And this is.... this is one of the benefits that

I have uh that I think that a lot of other people would not have had

they been elected) uh, to council. For example, the Reverend Taylor who

was running against me. Now he's.... he's also in..... e's self-employed

and I think he may have been able to do it. But the average guy working

foruh, another individual could not be a good council member if that employee.....

that employer would not allow him to do some of the things that I can do

now because of a family-owned business. You have to be at liberty to go

and do. Uh, for example, I'm I'm I'm I'm the vice-president of the Palm

Beach County Municipal League uh, which is a league comprising all thirty-seven

municipalitiesuh, in Palm Beach County. Anduh, I'm a member of the) uh,

of the West Palm Beach Urban Area Transportation Study uh, uh, Committee.

All of these are side effects to ... to being a council member. But I

feel that if I'm going to be a good council member, then my exposure has

to.... has to be... has to be increased. I've got to get out and know

what's going on other places so that I can..... I can be better equipped

to do my job on a local basis. So, these I do. I try to get involved in

as many things as I possibly can...... time permitting.

I: It helps yodo .' ,. -\_5. .

D: It certainly does.


-22-









FB 27AB (tape A)


I: Now another rater. Now these are to rate how important you think the

following items are in preventing you from doing a better job benefitting

blacks and uh, as you said there's nothing so, if you just go down the

line.

D: Q wK. Number one; Office has no real authority. And if you're speaking

of my office as a council member, right? Well, this office has real

authority as far as I'm concerned. Uh, by my ability uh, to present myself

and the problems of the community to other council members, to sell them

on it in council member..... uh at council meetings. Not behind closed

doors and these kind of things. To present a logical approach to the

problem and get the other council members to see DGK. there is a need

that we authorize this or that we consider this. Now, I don't think

that I would get everything that I want. I don't think anybody's gonna

do this, black or white, but if you get the majority of eem then the

majority is better than zero orzip.

I: Of. so that's not important at all.

D: Uh, let's see office has no real authority. No, that's not.... not important.

I: Whether you're outvoted by the white officials, white council members?

D: Uh, no I don't think so. I uh, I've found myself since I've been on

council having the swaying vote in many many key issues uh, uh, because

there was two council members for and two against anduh, I being right

in the middle of the swaying vote. So, the decision ma... making process,

much of it rests with me and,uh, it's just the way that many issues are

structured. That it could go either way with me having the deciding vote


-23-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: so I study the problem very2very carefully. Uh, I have to be in a

position to make a good sound decision and I know many times that uh,

nol matter what decision you make, some people are gonna be with you

and some are gonna be against you. But you have to make that decision

based on your knowledge of the problem' based on your study of the problem,

and your uh.... based on your believe n-what you're doing.

I: Q.K.' Now is there the problem that is typical of the black community.

Do ever find that the white officials are just overwhelming you? Say,
7


D: No, no, no, no. No, in no way. No way here in Delray. I think we have

uh, one of the most logical-thinking councils anywhere in the state of

Florida. I must say that without reservation.

I: That's another not important?

D: That's another not important.

I: (chuckle)

D: Not enough revenue available. (chuckle) Well this.... this is always a

problem because I don't think that any municipality has excess revenue

that they can do things that)uh, that everybody wants done. Uh, but

I..... I think it's.... I think it's also not important because we.... we

have a real fine uh, city manager, he's a very logical-thinking person uh,

and he has a tendency to listen. Uh, the council,uh, listens,uh, very

well. I don't think that ..... that uh..... that this is really a factor

because we make due with what rev.... revenue we have available and I

think they.... that they do a realreal good job because uh, I guess

the-year about uh, oh I guess a year, a year and a half ago uh, the city


-24-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: just completed the southwest drainage pro..... uh, project. And that was

something like uh, oh I guess uh, well over two million dollars and all

of that went right into the black community to benefit -that uh, the residents

in that.... in that community. And at that time I was not on council when

it was initiated but I was on council when it was completed. Uh, and I think....

I think they... they really use a ... a common sense uh approach... approach

to uh, the ya know adequate use of finances available to do the job.

-O.K. Unfamiliar#fity..... uh, unfamiliar with administrative duties. Uh,

as I said before, I think I have an administrative background that was not

limiting under any circumstances and in performing well as a councilor...

as a councilman.

I: ap. Another not important?

D: Mmm hmm. Uh, lack of cooperation from whites. I think uh, they've been

most generous in cooperating uh, with me and in anything I've attempted

to do. For example, when I was working so diligently trying to get the

traffic lights for the community. Uh, when I presented my case to the

council they passed a resolute supporting my efforts. And I think this

resolution had great bearing on the.... on the *ind--of government7 Yelping

us to... to get these traffic lights. Things of this nature. Uh, community

development uh, grant funds which would benefit mostly uh, the underprivileged

and most of this is in the black community. They have worked just as hard

as I have to see that Delray uh, could obtain uh, uh, a certain amount of

these funds touh, rid the community of blight and help uh, build a thing

like a neighborhood center which is badly needed uh, right in the middle

of the black community. Not only for blacks but for the entire community.


-25-










FB 27AB (tape A)


D: I wanted to see something that's uh, although it may have been put in

the middle of ... of the black community, something that was... that every

citizen in Delray would be happy to use. Uh, I want to... to keep working

so that uh, so that the average white would not have any reser.... reservation5

about coming into the black community, attending a function, and enjoying

themselves. And uh, we were thinking on something for a neighborhood center

or a community center something in the half million dollar category. Something

that would've provided a realreal fine facility. Something that you could

uh, have the .... the cultural arts uh, uh, exhibits and these kind things.

Something that the whole community, the whole community of Delray could

be proud of and utilized to it/s best advantage. So, uh, uh, this item

uh, we put to/uh, uh, put to a referendum. And I must say that it was of...

of the five items that you had on which only one passed was a half million

dollars..... uh six hundred thousand dollars for streets and sidewalk bond

issue passed. The other four failed. And of the other four that failed,

the community center that we were trying to get in the community failed

by a difference of 127 votes. Now, I.. I've... I've always said that

had the black community turned out in sufficient number to the polys, we

would've had that authorization to go ahead with this. So, since we

didn't get it, I didn't drop it. I decided that we could .... if we didn't

get it this way we could go with other ways. Uh, so the community development

block grant program is the next objective that I have to getting this

center built which is badly needed. Uh, right now we joined in... we


-26-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: enjoined the county. Uh, first the city was going to go it alone and.

try to gather the necessary funds under the comr.... community development

block grant program to get this center built and to upgrade housing in

the... in the community and remove some of the blight in the community.

But we found that the county, and most of this was from my doing, I happened

to be at the county on a .... on another uh, at the board of county commissioners

meeting on another subject and uh it was brought up at that time by one of

the commissioners that the county did not possess the two hundred thousand/

uhpopulation count that it needed to qualify as an urban county for community

development block grant program. So, based on the 1970 censusluh, the

city of Delray at that time I think cleared aboutuh, 19,000 uhlpopulation

count. Riviera Beach carried a little higher. And they needed those

two communities to include Lake Worth to get above 200,000 to apply as

an urban county. So, at that meeting the county said they couldn't see

why these communities had not enjoined them uh, shouldn't, uh join them.

And uh, so, I uh came back to our uhcity manager and asked him to hold

a council and see if.... if our council was agreeable to enjoining the county

to pull our population count in to see if we could the county above 200,000.

Well we did get a majority vote on it and so we enjoined the county and then

Riviera Beach II think also enjoined them and Lake Worth and so this put

the county above 200,000. And so we could no longer go it... go it alone

but we were going in with the county. So, uh, the community development

block grant application as submitted by the county has been approved by

the regional office in Jacksonville and is now at the federal level waiting

their approval. So, if that approval comes back the county will get some-

where in the neighborhood of uh, about 1.2 million dollars and so hopefully


-27-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: Delray will get its fair share of it so that we can do some of the things

that we need to do within the community.
C Q.. -.L
I: Well that.... how .it related to the next question, lack of cooperation

for blacks?

D: Well uh, this a.... a process where that the average black and I'm saying

the average black, not your.... not your leaders or your possible leaders,

uh, you have to get em off dead-center to get things accomplished. The

average black can sort of have a careless attitude as how things are going

downtown. Uh, he will complain within the community, he will complain

to himself, he will complain to others but the complaints have to be

garnered and taken downtown uh, to get things done. And this is something

that I've been doing now for the last year and a half, trying to get

the average black more interested into local self-government. It's a.... it's

a hard thing because)uh, I think that when I look out into the audience at

council meetings, the blacks that are down there are generally the same

blacks that are there every week. But I'm trying to generate the interest

to get more down to get involved in local self-government. Because this

is the .... the greatest opportunity for a citizen to be a part of government,

to be a close knit part because when you get at the county level you're ...

you're away from the community. When you're at the state level how many

citizens do you know that really goes up to Tallahassee to uh, be involved

in leg... in the legislative process. So, I try to tell them along these

lines, that you are right here where government is going on. So, you

have a \I\LC 'i I so why not come down and listen in and join in

uhbecause no matter what your educational level is, X lot of blacks

will tell me, And I tell them well come down and see how local self-government


-28-










FB 27AB (tape A)


D: operates. Said well, I'm... I'm not a good spokesman. You don't need

to be because if you have a problem come down and present it not matter

whether your educational background uh, says that you are an explicit

speaker or you're just a run-of-the-mill speaker, I.think they'll get

the point. Even if you split verbs or even if you get crossed up on

certain ways of presenting yourself. So come down and try it. And uh,

we're getting more and more uh but it's a continuous process. You can't

do it this week and drop it next week. You have to stay on them and stay

onl them uh and uh and get them to be a part of local self-government.

Uh, we have uh, uh, several community leaders who uh, are really getting

involved. Uh, since I've been on... on ... on council, I've gotten a black

from this area nominated and is now a member of the manpower board which

is a key and important board as far as funding is concerned manpower-wise.

Uh, most of the manpower money was staying north. Well, we needed some

help in the south county area. So, this guy now represents the south county

area and he was my campaign manager at the time and he.... he did a... such

a fabulous job, I asked him to.... to please be available to uh, to accept

appointment to some of these boards. And he's the dean of boys down at

Boca School and uh, so when the manpower appointment came by I considered

he among two others and Joggs basically eliminated the two others so I

had to go to the principal... his principal uh, to ask if if he could uh

contend with this individual making some day-time meetings in West Palm

Beach and this kind thing. He... he was agreeable. And so this guy

is on the board now and he is doing a tremendous job. And and you're... and

we're seeing some results of his sitting on that board. But could you imagine


-29-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: if this guy had not been on the board whether the south county area which

we are a part would've been thought of. No, I doubt very seriously because

when it comes to a point of handing out money you almost want to uh, look

after your area. You... you want to see that your particular area is

represented with funds. So, we needed some help in this area. Like I said,

I'm on the... I'm on the transportation uhboard and so I can look out

for the south county area... uh, because if I wasn't on the board there

would be basically be no one to look after the south county board. One of

the commissioners who was just elected to the uh, to the uh, county....

the board of county commissioners, Commissioner Medalin )Yjh, he went

in and he said that he would do as much as he could for the economically

deprived and he's doing a good job because when he receives notification

that he can make an appointment from his district, generally he calls me

and asks me if I have anyone that I'd like to consider. All the time the

people do not get these jobs but at least it's a step in the right direction

because he calls me and asks me if I know of someone that I... that I

could recommend.

I: Well now, for lack of cooperation, generally you'd rate it not important?

D: Well, I'd rate it not important. Really.

I: 0~Jl. Now um, so what about state officials with the problems?

D: Well, no other than... than.... than council-wise uh, myself personally, no.

But council-wise, we had.... the last legislative delegation we had from

the..... from this area, we were quite successful in getting some of the

things done for the city that we wanted them to do. For example, uh,

the city of Delray is laden with what we call county pockets uh within our


-30-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: ..... our reserved area there are a lot of pockets that are basically in

the city but not controlled by the city because it's a county pocket and

we're getting a lot of those eliminated and this is gonna help us. So,

I... I'd say.... I'd say it's not important.

I: QOR. and federal officials?

D: Federal officials well, (chuckle) we have uh, ......... Paul Rodgers to

represent us and he is.... he's very good. We've gotten a lot of help

from him. He's down in the area quite often and when we have a problem

we see him or we call him and uh, so he's... he's good. < :i '' ic



I: That's not really......

D: Not really important.

I: (chuckle) Well, at least you're consistent anyway.

D: Like I say, we're... we're realY fortunate in this area. We really are.

I: I might move down, it sounds great. (laughter)

D: I'll tell ya. I'll tell ya.

I: ,6;K Has criticism or lack of support from the black community hindered

you in holding office? That is, do some blacks not cooperate$ wi\ you

because they believe you are only a token in government anahave no real

authority?

D: No. Because I think there was a great deal of reservation when I first

went on council from the blacks in the community. It was sort of "I'm

wondering if he's gonna be able to do the job. I'm wondering if he's gonna

.uh~-be able to get in there with his approach". Ya know with the low

keylliberal-type approach. Whether he's gonna be able to accomplish some

of the things that he said in his... in his .... in yb know his platform

and other community and civic work that I was doing. But, after the first


-31-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: year I think there is a really earned uh.... earned uh.... a ... a ... a

pretty good title that I can get the job done. Uh, I know numerous

blacks who have come down to council on... on critical issues that

involve blacks and the way that I presented the problem and the way that

the vote turned out, I think I have gained their confidence that I can

do the job uh, uh, ya' know as required. I'd like to quote you just...

just one.

I: Sure.

D: Uh, the community child care center uh, had .....had leased some property

from the city to buildluh, a child care center within the black community,

but because of funding they could not do it. So they locatedluh a resident

which would be of size to handle the thirty-five to forty kids that they

were handling at that time. But this resident happened to be/uh, in the

southeast area of the city and it happened to be in a white community.

So the whites had some reservation as to bringing these minority kids Tike

uh, Mexican-American yd.know-into the community. Whether it was going

to lower property values and this kinda thing yg know. And this was a

.geud-awful fight)uh and it was presented in such a manner that I think

we dispelled all of this. And this has turned out to be one of the

prettiest little pieces of property in that community. The Jaycees and

everyone pitched and .... and helped. And so now there's no kids running

in the road like they said, no kids getting run over by cars and this

kind of thing. And it's.... and it's worked beautifully. We ha 't had

one complaint from council as to this... this activity being in this... in


-32-









FB 27AB (tape A)


D: this... in this community. I think they have earned their place in that

community. So, I'm real proud of that.

I: Do you feel that white officials treat you differently from other officials?

That/sI is, do they consider you the spokesman for the blacks and you're

only able to make certain issues pertaining to blacks?

D: No. Because when I was running for council I made it perfectly clear

to all residents of this communityJ, think, that if I were elected I

would be a councilman for all the elect. I don't want to, ,w didn't want

to at that time, and I still don't want to be considered as the councilman

that represents the black community. And... and I get real appalled when

people say that I am ya know the black representative on council. I'm

not. I'm a council member just like anybody else is there, I'll fight

just as hard for the black community as I will for the southeast, or the

northeast area, or the beach. So, I don't..... Running at-large means

that I'm a... I'm an at-large council member and this is the way I see it.

So, I want no one to say that/ y know even though I live in the black

community, that I'm the one that represents the blacks. I want to be....

I want to be so deversified that when people see me they'll see me as

councilman, not as a black councilman.

I: ............ (End of side two and end of tape A)


-33-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: ..... you repeat the question again?

I: Yes. What services have you provided blacks in your district that they

did not have before you took office? Could you please give some examples

of these?

D: OK. Number one, we spoke of the traffic uh, light situation in the

community where we needed it for the safety and welfare of people living

in the community. Uh, those are now being installed and I think prior to

the end of this month they will be fully functioning. Uh, we had initially

started to gather one on the state road uh, but we said why go for one,

let's go for two. Because uh, the .... the one traffic light that we

had was on the state road and it was on the corner of 5th and Atlantic

and we needed with 1-95, the Turnpike, 441, and these major arteries

leading into Delray, we felt that we needed uh, someway to slow the... the

traffic down especially through the residential and the uh and the black

business district. So now we have two being installed,one at 8th and one

at 10th. This is something that the citizens of the community want... wanted.

This is one thing that they urged me to fight for for them and come up

with traffic lights. And it was.... oh, it was a heck of a battle but we

won it. So, I feel that I was an integral part in getting the traffic lights

for the community in which they so really wanted. The other thing was street

sidewalks and uh, is really a problem in the community. So I was.... I think

I was instrumental -enough in getting the uh... the uh, bond issue for

streets and sidewalks to go to referendum at the last general election. And

fortunately, it was the only one that passed. So, the bondsuh, the mayorr

S"I believejup in New York now signing the... signing the bonds so we'll

have a council workshop on how we're goint to utilize this.... the $600,000.00


-34-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: So, it's going to be uh, uh, an effort on my part to see that the greater

percentage of this $600,000.00 come into the black community to help upgrade

some of the streets uh, some of the sidewalks that are presently in) have'i

been in since early 1930s. I've had uh....... Xe' get some paved alley-

ways in the community which are dearly needed. For example, behinM my

place the alleyway doesn't go all the way through. If we had a fire that

say)the street was blocked off and the fire engine would have to come

in the back, we'd be stranded. Because the alleyway is just not.... the

side street that runs past my house if virtually) uh, uh, a dirt road.

And although I'm not gonna fight to get that road paved as such out of

the $600,000.00 because I really .... I'd like to see some of the other

areas paved. Uh, I don't want anybody say "W1ell because he lives in this

area he fought to have .... to have that road paved because there are

other places in the community that need it just as well as the people who

live just in my \n icw.-.-. So I'm going to... I'm going to see

how much of this $600,000.00 I can get to come into the black community. I

know that much of it needed.... needs to be in other areas of the city,

uh, in the white areas. And uh, I won't.... I won't fight that at all. I'll

assist in trying to get some of those streets uh, upgraded. But generally

speaking, theuh, roadways in the black community are the worst in the city

and uh, so therefore, I think,uh, not because I'm black but because there's a

need for it, that I will press to get the majority of this money into the

.... into the black community to get some of these things taken care of.

I: Now I have another questionnaire. Please rate how effective you think you've

been in each of the following service areas in terms of benefitting the

blacks.


-35-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: OA<. Number one, as I mentioned previously, police protection. I think that

uh, that with uh, the new structuring of the police department and uh, the

city of Delray\ I think has had as many blacks on it's police force as any-

where in the $outhCounty. Uh I don't know the total number uh, but I

can venture out and say there's possibly ten. .But we do have one in which

I'm very proud of and although I had nothing to do with her decision in

to becoming a police officer, we do have a black female and she's doing

an excellent job. Uh, we have one of the finest police chiefs in the country

as I said. Uh, he was rated in the top ten. Uh, so I think our police

protection is very good. Uh, it leaves room for improvement as in any

other function within the city. But there.... 'ince I've been on council,

I know uh, there has been a great deal of improvement in.... in police

protection. In fact, out..... our crime rate here in the city uh, at the

last estimate had dropped something like... I think the chief said something

like 14 per cent. Uh, no I'm not.... I'm sorry, four.... uh around 4 per cent.

So, it's not going up, it's coming down. Uh, since he's been here he's

formulated attack squads. Police officers who are in serene clothes driving

unmarked police cars who are patrolling the city throughout. Uh, it's made

up both black and white officers and they're doing a tremendous job in ... in

cutting the dope traffic, the prostitution, and everything within the city.

He's made uh, interventions into the city that's been helpful uh, uh, through-

out in in providing adequate police protection to all the citizens. So, I

say that uh, that uh, because of the interest that was .-______

that was basically started by myself, uh, we've been able.... we've been

able to really upgrade police protection. For example, when the,uh, the
/'


-36-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: former police chief uh, retired it left an opening for a police chief. You

wanna shut that down? (noise stops in the background) O.K. it left an
O-v
opening for a police chief. ,Alright, the city manager appointed himself

as \ -- police chief. Well, I didn't agree with him. Anduh, so we

started a.... a heck of a rally to come up with a good police chief as

soon as possible. Even uh, so to the extent that I had several conversations

with him and then the last one I had I was not satisfied because I felt he

was sort of dragging his feet in coming up with a good police chief. And uh,

so myself and the council woman decided that we would go and check with

the state attorneyjuh, general's office in West Palm Beach uh, to see if

he was legally right. And so, when e took his interest, he decided to

uh, appoint a chief. So we... we had a chief come in just very shortly after

that. So I felt that this was a step in the right direction in getting a

good police protection. Uh, the blacks in the community had charged that

uh, thatehe was the former chief had his prejudice against blacks and that

the.... the.... department was) prior to that time was based on racial

prejudice, uh, that if you were racially prejudiced you could easily become1

uh, a member of the police department. But uh, since that time, we have

a black.... two black lieutenants. One who is the key administrative officer

to the /ti uh, who happened to graduate from the same college that

I did, Florida A&M University. Uh, we have uh, a couple of black lieutenants,

and so things have progressed. We have'no derogatory comments uh, against

police protection uh, I'd say in the last eight to nine months. So this

is a step in the right direction. 'And I think it was basically brought on


-37-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: although I don't want to take full credit for it, I do take some credit

for it. Because I... I say-it in my... in my campaign platform that I

would see thatluh, the heads in the department were... were uh, will ser-ve

yoe to determine that they were doing adequate jobs and if not, we would

see if we could 't dismiss them for better trained people so that all the

citizens in Delray could have a fair chance~ at a good life here in Delray.

So police protection I rate as very effective.

I: p-P.

D: Streets and roads, I think I've covered thisluh, in the $600,000.00 bond

issue so it's left to be that I think up to me and other citizens in the

black community to get behind council and see that the $600,000.00 is used

to it4s best advantage to upgrade streets and roads in the community. And

I think we'll be effective in doing this so I'm going to rate this very

effective also.

I: 0,K.

D: Housing is a problem as in most communities where you have pretty good

black populus. Right now uh the city in conjunction with the community

development block grant form application is going through and surveying

these houses. I was astonished to find that we had some 200 homes in

the black community who did not have hot water. And so this is a health

hazard and so we're getting these homes weeded out. We're getting some

of them condemned where we can find places for uh the tenants to go but

this has to be a slow process. We can't go in and and just condemn homes

at random and give people thirty or ninety uh, thirty or sixty days to get
I


-38-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: out of these homes with no way.... no place to go. So housing uh, I think

uh, I've been somewhat effective in ... in helping to ... to get thisu,.-Gu-- .

I: Welfare?

D: Welfare? (chuckle) Not very effective. Uh, I don't think here because uh,

although we've made many attempts to improve welfare uh of the citizens

particularly in the black community, that's an extremely slow process. Uh/

because just overnight, you just don't change things like this. This has

to be accomplished through the education'process that... that I have really

been pushing blacks. And I said that the best way to improve your standing

within the community is get yourself an education. So we are pushing

this very hard. But as you know, it's uh, it's an individual effort and

the only thing that you can do is council" m, uh, try to guide them in

the right direction. But many times it's left up to the person as to

what steps, what route, or what pattern they wanna take. So I'd rate

this as uh, as not effective also.

I: Of, .
-7
D: Parks and uh, and recreation. Uh, I stand to take a great deal of credit

in grading this since I've been on council. We have an area which is called

uh, the T--(r\ own Recreational Complex. When I came on council uh,

they had an old World War II army barracks that they were using as the uh1

recreational complex uh located in this entire environment for kids to uh,

have their recreational process, uh dances, and this kind thing. And

it was unsafe, it was unsightly, it was not a structure that I t-houht should

have been in the black community or any community or any segment of the

community here in the city. So, we pressed uh with all efforts to get

it torn down and it was torn down, it was excavated, and uh.... and so


-39-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: we left it as a blank piece of land. T-hat this is where you want the

new center to go and I think when... when that's built I think it's gonna

be something that the whole city of Delray Beach can be proud of. Just

as proud as we are of our civic center which I think is a very good center.

Uh, we are going to make uh, a park area out of it. Right now there was

one uh, baseball softball field out there and right now.... Yell, as a result

of some of the efforts that I applied to coming up with better recreational

complexes in the black community and elsewhere in the communityuh, we

have uh an official little league softball field now and uh, yet to be

completed there is the lighting and that's about $34,000.00 so we didn't

have the money in this years budget but that's something that I'm going to

press for in next years budget that we get the... the funding available

so that we can light that field so that we can havejuhllittle league official

tournaments uh in that community, uh, for all the city. We're going up

now with uh what we call the southwest uh fourth avenue recreational complex

and this is located in the southwest section of the city. And it's located

in the white community but I'm just as adamant about getting that completed

as I am luh, the one at --ngtown.

I: Mm hm.

D: So uh, I think that we're..... we're doing a good job there and I would

have... I would have to rate that as very effective. Uh, water, sewage, and

garbage, I think I've covered the garbage aspect. I think that we have

one of the best systems now in as much as we're getting it once a week. And

I was instrumental in helping along with this since I was on council. Sewage,


-40-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: uh, we had to have this as a joint effort between the city of Delray Beach

and the city of Boynton Beach who are our neighbors to the north because

Delray didn't have sufficient uh, populk4t-in, neither did Boyton, to qualify

for a nine hr\\- Aco\' grant from the federal government. So we enjoined

each other, we applied for the grant and we were approved. So now the two

councils, five members from each council, make up the uh, the board and we're

working now to ..... to _I_\r a sewage treatment plant that would

serve all of the city.... all of the cities involved uh Delray and Boyton and

then Satellite communities with adequate sewage. Uh this .... this plant

will cost approximately nine million dollars and will be built out to the

west on Congress Avenue on a thirty-four acre track of land that's presently

owned by the city of .... of Delray Beach but we're gonna ask Boy'ton to buy

half..... half of this so it'll be a joint effort. So we're in negotiation

now as to what price we're gonna settle on. So I think that's also very

effective. Helping hospitals. Initially in my campaign plight I had

i~hr _\_c_ I had to build a hospital in the Delray Beach area. But people

who advised me in my campaign says no. Says don't use that as a campaign

issue because you have the which is located to the south of

you which is very close that's located right on the.... the Delray-Boyton

boundary and uh uh the hospital in Boca, you have uh, John Kennedy Hospital

on the t _i so all of these hospitalstwithin a close realm

of this city. So, they saidlyou don't really need a hospital now because

of the expenditure.... the great expenditure of funds uh, we're ... we're

having adequate hospital care because of the... y4 know with the surrounding


-41-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: hospitals. So I backed off of that one and this maybe uh, uh, depending

on how things are going, it may be an issue of mine in the future. But in

talking with hospital officials or hospital boards/l find that during the

off-season many of the hospitals shut down a wing because all of the beds

are not filled. So you can see there that hospitals are not really... really,

really necessary. A hospital in Delray per say. So I would rate that

as real..... well really not effective because you really don't need it.

I: Not applicable then?

D: Right. Education, I've touched on it uh somewhat uh,because it's still a

matter of... of getting people to get the education, uh, that they need. I...

I speak to many of the... of the juniors and seniors in high school and told

them about many of the grants that's available, the scholarships that are

available. Many of them are taking advantage it uh, many of them are going

into the service. Well I have no objection to the service but I do think

that they should get a college education prior to going in the service and

use the benefits that they'll ar-r-ve from the service to get an education

later. So, I'd say that was somewhat effective as far as education. Now,

when I came on council uh, we had uh one of the best fire departments in

the uh, in the .... in the south..... now I'd say in the southern district

of the county. Uh, we had a very fine fire department. We had both black

and white firemen. So I saw no reason at that time to attack the fire

department in what they were doing. But I feel that I should keep a watchful

eye on it. I hadn't had any complaints that.... where a black has desired

to become a fireman, went down and applied, and didn't get the job if he


I


-42-









FB 27AB (Tape B)


D: passed the test. So I see no reason to attack the fire department. We have

good coverage. One of our things that we're thinking about now is coming

up with a piece of property on the beach area to replace the small fire

uh, uh, station that we have there. To come up with a more sophisticated uh,

fire station because there are a few condominiums in that area and uh we

have a... we have one of the .... the high-rise type fire pieces of equipment

in the city and so uh, we feel that we are adequately protected with fire

but I feel that that piece of equipment should(by right really be stationed

on the beach side because to cross over uh, to the beach side, cross the

intercoastal, there's two bridges and should something happened to those

bridges simultaneously)one of condominiums.... there was a fire in one
*-7*
of the condominium, probably get the over there. So it's a

problem and so this is something we'-1i watch. So I'll say somewhat effective

but there's room for improvement. Could you shut the tape..... (tape cuts off)

I: Have you received federal funds from your district? And if so, can you

please list some of them and um, the amounts if possible?

D: Well, most of the federal funds that we wittd receive have been in the area

of federal revenue sharing funds and uh, most of this basically has gone

for capital improvements uhwithin the city and all areas of the city has

benefitted from these funds. And so as far as ... as I know off hand, uh,

and I can't say what the..... what they annual allotments have been to

to uh, to theuh city because I have to check into it but I do know that

we have used most of the federal revenue sharing funds for capital improvement.

However, with the..... with the housing problems and what have youuh, there

is authority to use some of the federal revenue sharing funds for uh social


-43-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: ... uh social improvement for the poor and the aged. Well in... in looking

back just the other day on our utilization of these federal funds, uh, I

don't see where and I say in the last three or four years which is as far

as I went back, that... that any allocation of funds has been made to these...

to this area. But I do feel that uh, during the next trip around that I'm

going to see that some of the funds are allocated for this purpose. Although

it may not be used, there may not be a need to use it, uh, but y know in

... in bulk money what I'm talking about something in the neighborhood of

I would think.... something in the neighborhood of about $10,000.00 allocated

for this purpose so that when little problems come by, the city could help

along this... along this line. Uh, we've gotten other federal grants but uh,

but they've been along the uh general lines of uh federal revenue sharing. I

think that if we get the community development money, then I think this would....

would be a step in the right direction as far as helping blacks because

uh, the area in which these funds would.., would be used really in the...in

the .... I'd say the low income or or socially deprived areas. And uh, so

that would basically channel right through the minority uh section of the

community, both blacks and the spanish speaking people uh who live in these

areas who.... which are... which are substandard or subpar to other areas

of the community. So, we're looking forward uh,.with great expectations

of coming up with some community block grant money.

I: Now do you as an elected official or a part of a local community been able

to bring industry or retail stores into your area?

D: Well, (chuckle) yeah, I would think so. Uh, the Delray Beach Mall uh, which

was just recently openeduh,was one of the ..... one the areas in which uh,

I'd say have come into the.... to the area which would help with jobs and


-44-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: this kinda thing. But as far as industry is concerned within the area uh,

I think it's a general condesus of opinion with the locally-elected officials

that we don't want this area highly industrialized. But we have things

like the Rinker concrete plant and uh and necessaryuh, industry. But as

far as full-fledged industries, say(maybe factories or these things, we

do not basically want to let them into the area. We realize thatuh,

bringing industry in the area would also provide for additional jgbs but

with the present economy, I don't think that too many people are gonna

venture out into new industry now in any area of..... particularly south

Florida. So I would think that uh, that as far as Delray is concerned, I'm

not going to press for industry in the area because like I said, I wanna keep

Delray the small quaint city that it is. I wanna see a lot of greeneryand

if you bring industry uhin... in mass into the area we're gonna.... we're

gonna tear up our density, we're going to add pollution to this community,

and I don't think that we want it.

I: Have you been able to see that blacks are hired fairly in local government?

D: Yes, I think so. Because when the jobs are available uh, I think that uh,

that/ blacks who want to apply, I think they've been given a fair shake

at their job based on their qualification and the like. Uh, we don't

have that many blacks in... in uh...... ell, ybu only have in local government

uh, I'm the really elected official but as far as ....as other facets of

local government uh, we take boards, committees, and this kind of things,

blacks have a fair representation on these boards. Uh, the housing board

of appeal and adjustment, blacks are represented there. On a community

appearance board we have blacks. Uh, on other boards in the city we


-45-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: have a fair representation of blacks. So uh, many of these are by.... by

appointments from the city that I... that I have provided the names as

to people who!uh, were willing to take the job and I would like to see

in the job. So, I can think of no... of no time that I"ve recommended a

black for any board and a commission in the city that uh, that they have

not. For example, one of the key boards in the city that if it gets off

the ground and this is uh, uh public uh reallyuh, they call it'Operk'which

has to do with labor relations. That was gonna be a three-member board

and uh, I got a black on that board. But right now the board has not

gone because uh, we uh, we don't know which..... really which way we're

gonna.... gonna go on this thing because labor relationSis.... uh, it's

a highly controversial area and we don't which way we're ..... we're going

to turn. Uh, we want to have our own local'perk here in the city but

we're ... we're experiencing a great deal of problems both from the... from

state because we didn't want to follow their ordinance uh, so we went out

on a.... on a limb anduh, and uh, made our own ordinance, we constructed

our own ordinance. And this uh, we felt that maybe was not a wise move

because the city of Lakeland was battling uh the state uh,\'perk' uh, in court

and they had spent uh, I guess in about nine or ten months somewhere around

$60,000.00 in \ .\ K -V, So we really don't want to spend

this kind of money so we backed off and uh, and tailored our ordinance to

the... to the state ordinance. So right now we're waiting on a decision on

that. And so if this gets off the ground then this board will become

effective in this city and uh, it's represented. So, I see from no boards

or commissions in the city that does not have black representation on it.


-46-










FB 27AB (tape B)


D: Even the charter l: r. board has black representation on it. So, we

have not uh, we have not left blacks out or given a feeling that we didn't

want em on the boards and commission in any boards or commissions within

the city.

I: Now I believe we've touched on the subject and if you'd like to explain

further or we can just pass it over, but has federal revenue sharing helped

your district or not?

D: I think it has because uh, much of the money that we have used to upgrade

the uh, the various parks and recreational uh areauh, the drainage and

this particular type of problem;ih, has been uh through basically out

of revenue sharing and the like and uh so I think a good-view ui ~1-Z

of federal revenue sharing has been a pretty good likes. So I see no... no

... no vast problem that..... I think we could do more and I'm .... I'm

going to have a special watchful eye on it and uh see that the revenue sharing

funds are used to the best advantage of all the city and particularly with....

particular emphasis on.... on some of the areas that are.... that are deprived.

And uh, so that would fall in the category of your minority cr-L ,

blacks uh, mexican-americans, and what have you and we have a fairly good

mexican-american uh population here because of the migrant labor forces that's

in this area.

I: Have there been any black protests, sit-ins, boycotts, or riots in this

city in the last ten years?

D: Uh, not within.... within our city as such. Uh, the last uh what I like to

call as a...a disturbance was actually at the local.... at the high school

down in Boca where I think the blacks who were bussed in came into the school


-47-










FB 27AB (tape B)


D: area uh one morning and uh some derogatory terms were... had been painted

on the building and uh that caused fights but I don't uh.... I don't like

to consider it as a riot. I think this is something that uh..... that

teenagers will do when ..... when they dlisoCcrLe I don't necessarily

uh, see it as a riot. I think it was.... it was utter distress to me that

the blacks reacted to something like this. And I told many of them that

when you.... on pop judgement when you react to things like this uh, it uh,

it shows that you're not thinking. Because I said that the logical thing

to do is when you came in and saw these things on the walls that uh one

of the most killing ways to prevent this from happening again is ask the

principal to see if you can get us some paint and let us go out and paint

it off, y4 know. So these are.... these are ways that I feel.....
?:


D: Yeah. (chuckle) But we were instrumental in.... in helping to uh, in fact,

I worked quite hard at this uh I was..... In fact, I was at the Kiwanis meeting

the morning that it.... that it happened. They tried to get a hold of me

to go down and see if I could helpuh get the blacks cooled down but I was

at Kiwanis meeting and didn't get the uh.... a notice until it was all... all

And uh the -.goal police department I guess was the ones that

...... that broke it up. But there again, the Boca police department doesn't

have one black on it4s ranking..... well ranking file or it's head .... head

of department. So you can see why we're so.... so far ahead of em. To...

as a cooling off process I uh.... I got with our chief of police and also

the chief of police in Boca Raton and urged that we send some of our black


-48-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: police officers down to be on the campus in uniforms that the kids could relate

to and help cool it down which we did and we haven't had anymore problems with

-em.

I: Now the following questions are asked to enable an assessment to black politics

in Florida, ,Overy general i.paessrnm.

D: Mm hm.

I: ) ___so What is your opinion of Governor Ruben Askew. That is,

do you think he's been favorable in attitude and policies towards blacks in

Florida or not?

D: I have to give him a nod on that uh, with his appointments uh, particularly

recent appointment of the .... of the black judge. Uh, I like Askew as a governor.

Uh, I think he's.... I think he's one of our fairest and I think that uh, that

uh, that he's a man of great intellect and I think he's a .... a man that could

be as fair as any governor that we've had. Uh, I like uh, uh, his financial

disclosure uh, effort. I do think there should be an open policy as far as

elected officials are concerned touh, dispelluh, any doubts as to what elected

officials are doing behind closed doors as far as their finances, as far as

getting into.... getting involved into uh, vne- %-red-type activities that

uh, lead to things like the burning incident now and uh, uh Floyd Christian and

other uh, uh, high level officials in the state that we have uh, been indicted.

However, I think that Askew's full disclosure of his finances is a step in

the right direction although, many local officials uh, here and around the state,

don'ttuh, particularly agree with this. Uh, they think it's an invasion of

privacy. Uh, I feel that if I'm a public server the public should know uh,

uh, much of what I'm doing. And right now with the financial disclosure, I think


-49-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: it's too watered down. Uh, I think it.... if it's gonna be law but I think

it should be uh, an openo-door policy for all elected officials and uh, and

those that are not elected who.... who must..... who falls within the category

of the... of the bounds of the law uh, that we should say/ y know that this

is our networkluh, this is what we're uh, what we.... what we're doing. Because

I think uh, uh, the citizens of.... around the country have lost some respect for....

for their leaders and I don't wanAo see this under any circumstances. I want

uh, I want people to believe in and believe that I'm honest and I want toI uh,

I want to show them that I P~ -. and I know of no better way than uh, uh,

disclose my.... my.... my financial pr ntat uh, which is not much but uh, if ....

if it has to be disclosed, then fine, let's disclose it. But I think that Askew is

uh, uh, Governor Askew is a fair governor.

I: What is your opinion of other state officials and state representatives?

D: Well generally speaking, I can say that uh, that most of our state officials until

it's proven that uh, they are involved in wrong doings o doing a fair job

around the state. Uh, I know many of the people who represent us in this

area uh, are very amenable to many of the things that we're doing. When we

go to them with problems theyuh, very few of them have not agreed with them

that it is a problem. Uh, Bill Jenk-i4s-wholuh, is with the Florida House of

Representatives uh, has been most helpful to us on most 'n that we

wanted to do. And so I can't uh, I can't say that they have not helped us.

Uh, I'm I'm I'm sure there's room for improvement in all of us. But it's... it's

... it's... it's local officials whho (--'c state officials uh, do not do

things to help benefit their areas are c' -io i because we have to let

them know our resolutions by letters and by other means, telephones or what have


-50-









FB 27AB (tape B)


D: you, uh, how we want them to react to certain things that they're involved

and to help us. I know all of the time they may not agree with us but we have

to let them know uh, uh, what we are thinking so that they know how the people

in Delray or the people in Bo3ton or the people in Boca feel about certain things

that they're working on. Uh, I think we would never have gotten uh,the .... the

state legislators to uh, vote to help us in annexing the county pockets or helping

us to dispell some of the problems that we had in the county pockets t-iat we

hadn't let the legislative delegation that comes in this area know how we felt

about it. So, I think when you work closely with them, you get good results.

But it's when you sit back and allow them to go uh, uh, un.... unwatched is

when you get into problems. And so I think theyluh.... they react uh, to peer

pressure just as well as we have to. And by peer pressure I mean, the pressures

from the uh, the communities to which they... they represent. So you've got

to keep a watchful eye on em to get things done.

I: Do you think that wom-e-n' holding office in Florida has been worth the effort?

D: (chuckle) That's a good question.

I: Mm hm.

D: Uh, would you like t Cc< attack this on a local level or a state level?

I: Um, local; r>s & .

D: O.K. Local. I've many times uh, because of my involvement in local uh, in self-

government, uh, I become dejected because many times uh, I don't spend as much

time with my family as ,3 did before I was elected. But you.... you fall in

the.... in1u for just a short period of time and then when you see some

of the results at some of the efforts that you have put forward, it .... it J.--


-51-









FB 27AB (tape B)


A-
D: ..... ~-t ad-ythe-et-yea. It says well, maybe the things that I've

been doing is worthwhile. Uh, I'd say a couple of times that yo know, boy

I...I don't know, I'm gonna think about running next time. But I know deep

down within me that unless health or some other reason prevents me from running

again that I'm going to run. Because I feel that uh, I have helped uh the city

and I feel that uh, that I'm in a position to help. I feel that uh, that although

there may be others just as well qualified as I am, and I'm speaking of blacks now,

that they would be haul pressed to beat me in fact if I ran again. Becauseuh,

when I go at thing, I go at it whole heart. I...I..I don't like to say well,

I'll attack just 75 per cent of it and leave the other 25 per cent lay dormant.

No, I won't attack it that way. I'll attack in full force and uh, with all

the energy and effort that I... that I can muster. So uh, it gets to be a problem

thatluh, your family don't see you many times uh, like they'd like to. Many times

you'd like to take you family out on a weekend but uh, you have things to .....

to study, you have things to do, you have things to see, and I usually try to

involve my family like if there's a zoning problem uh that I have not gone out

and and and looked at the area myself personally, I'll take the family out for

a ride on the weekend and we'll go see a lot of these things and they learn to

appreciate some of the problems that I'm faced with and they learn how to support

me a little ... a little better. So, you have to..... you have to use tact

in this because uh, you don't want your family to become dejected in what you're

doing. Because there is no way and I stated this publicly, there's no way that

I could do what I'm doing now if I didn't have a good wife who was backing me,

a good wife who knows the business and doesn't mind staying there the extra hours


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FB 27AB (tape B)


D: when I have to be away.

1: /1 (chuckle)

D: Yeah.

I: Um..... the following questions are asked to compile an overall group profile

of black elected officials in Florida. No individual answers will be recorded.
-7
Type of office held on this commission ?

D: Yes. We call it council members of council in here.

I: Uh, date first elected?

D: Uh, December, '73.

I: And date you took office?

D: January, '74.

I: Number of times that you've run for office?

D: This is my first.

I; Um, your age?

D: I'm 39.

I: Your occupation before election?

D: Uh, -&4+idL manager in grocery.... grocery store.

I: What is.....

D: It's a family-owned business.

I: Your father's occupation?

D: Uh, my father uh, is in Tampa and he's retired, railroad.

I: He was in the railroad business?

D: Yes. He was a railroad worker for some thirty-seven years.

I: Now the um, education?

D: Uh, I have a college degree.


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FB 27AB (tape B)


I: Uh, salary received from your elected position?

D: Uh, we're paid $200.00 a month.

I: Were you active in the Civil Rights Movement ofI ul'60 to '66?

D: Not as much as I should have beenguh, I guess becausepuh, I was in the service

at the time and y4 know there are certain..... there are certain things you

can and certain things you can't do in the service while w ewee -etr uniform .

I: Mm hm.

D: So I say that the service uh, elim.... uh, prohibited me from doing as much

as I would have been doinglI guess if I'd been on the outside.

I: Mm hm.

D: And particularly being a commission officer.

I: Oh well. (chuckle) Church to which you belong?

D: Uh, I'm,uh, a member of the uh, Greater o ,-v QOI- Baptist Church here in Delray.

So, I'm Baptist __

I: Um, are you an official in the church?

D: Um, no I'm not.

I: Are there ether community organizations or activities that you are involved in?

D: Uh, yes.

I: Do you wanna list em? (Chuckle)

D: 0

I: Kiwanis?

D: Yeah Kiwanis International. Uh, I'm a ...... a member of the.... a board member

of the..... a board member and uh, and vice-president of the Palm Beach County

Municipal League, and a board member of the West Palm Beach Urban Area Transportation

Study Committee.


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FB 27AB (tape B)


I: (chuckle) O.K.

D: I'm also a member and an officer to the Delray Beach Civic Association. Uh, I'm

a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and an officer.
,K7
I: or something? (chuckle)

D: Yeah. That's K-E-Psi uh, a Y with a..... Yeah K-E-Psi, that's uh, good. Uh,

I'm a member of ........ let's see trying to think of the .p'ro''i title for

it. The Young Men's Progressive Club of Delray and an officer in that organization.

This is an organization that we uh, uh, thought of to help upgrade the uh, the

young men in the community, try to give them something to look forward to

and try to help them with their morals and health, education, and welfare. And

uh, I guess that's about it. I'm a member of a few other organizations but uh.....

I: ot'ty that's enough. Uh, you also talked about this a little. What effects

have running......... for and holding office had on you personally and on your

family?

D: I... I'm sorry, I didn't catch it.

I: What effects have running for and holding office had on you personally and

on your family?

D: Well, like I said, that it's something that your family have to give you the

support because if you don't __, if you don't get that support uh,

it could make life very miserable for y4 because uh, it's a.... it's sort of a

change of... of ... of lifestyle. Uh, you.... suddenly you go from a person

who is just a person in the community to a person of extreme importance to the...

in the public eye. Uh, because many people come to you with problems that they

feel just because you're an elected official, you should be able to help them with.

And so I do a lot of .... of help within the community uh, uh, with people who


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FB 27AB (tape B)


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D: have problems that may or may not involve uh.............






End of tape and end of interview..........