Senator DOMINICK. That is all I have, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Senator SPONG. I have no questions. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Thompson. Our next nominee is Mrs. Polly Shackleton. Glad to see you, Mrs. Shackleton. STATEMENT OF MRS. POLLY SHACKLETON, NOMINEE TO BE A MEMBER OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COUNCIL Mrs. SHACKLETON. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am deeply honored to have been nominated by President Johnson for membership on the City Council and pledge to do everything in my power to justify his confidence in my ability to serve. Thanks to various professional, community and political activities in which I have worked, I am aware of many of the problems which face the District of Columbia government. I am fully prepared to devote all my energies toward developing better approaches and seeking new ways of solving them. I have lived in Washington since 1939 and over the years have come to know the city well. I have been privileged to have opportunities to work closely with countless individuals and groups, both downtown and at the neighborhood level, and consequently have gained personal knowledge of concerns of people in all sections of the city. This experience would serve me well as a Council member. Through it, I would hope to bring a sympathetic understanding of day-to-dayas well as long-range-needs and desires and thus be able to help fulfill the aspirations of my fellow-citizens, regardless of where or how they live. Under the leadership of Mayor Washington and Deputy Mayor Fletcher, I believe the newly constituted government has an unprecedented opportunity to achieve President Johnson's high goals for the District. The Council has an important role and I hope to be able to participate usefully in this challenging endeavor. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mrs. Shackleton. You have appeared before this committee many times-very effectively I might add. I think the only question I have of you is that you apparently come under the mandate of the Hatch Act. If confirmed, I assume you will give up your position on the Democratic Central Committee. Mrs. SHACKLETON. Yes; I will do that. The CHAIRMAN. I neglected to ask Mr. Thompson the same question. I assume, Mr. Thompson, if confirmed you would give up your position on the Republican Central Committee. Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. Senator, I may have been premature, but I have resigned already. The CHAIRMAN. That is true Republican optimism. The Senator from Vermont. Senator PROUTY. Mrs. Shackleton, I am expressing sorrow that the Republicans are going to lose some very able workers if they are confirmed, but conversely I am delighted that the Democrats will no longer have the advantage of your great abilities and leadership. Mrs. SHACKLETON. Thank you, Senator. We have a great many more who I think are even more effective than I am. The CHAIRMAN. The Senator from Colorado. Senator DOMINICK. I have no questions. The CHAIRMAN. That is all, Mrs. Shackleton. I thank you very, very much. I do want to thank each of you who have participated today. You nominees have been very patient. I think this has been a thorough hearing. I am advised that members Hechinger, Fauntroy, Thompson, Yeldell, Turner, Nevius families are all here. If they want to stand and take a bow we will be very happy to recognize them. [Applause.] Thank you very, very much, because I do want to say that there is much work to be done ahead. I hope we can be helpful. I hope we can move the nominations forward at a very early date. We will check with the other members of our committee and be in a position I hope to make some announcement the very early part of next week. I have to leave momentarily for my own State where I am going to have a future business engagement and professional and political engagement in 1968 and I am just trying to get a few of the odds and ends straightened up, but I will be back on Monday and I hope shortly after that time that we can complete our action on the nominations. Senator PROUTY. Mr. Chairman, I have a brief statement which I would like to insert in the record at this point. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, that will be the order, also as to this other material. (The material referred to follows:) SENATOR PROUTY'S REMARKS ON THE NOMINEES FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COUNCIL The District of Columbia is entering a new phase in its existence and the members of the new Council, together with the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner will have the responsibility for steering this new government through troubled waters under the hard searchlight of public scrutiny. The problems of this great city are varied and many-they are complex and unique— not subject to quick and easy solution. Each of the nominees appears to be familiar with one or more of these problems and will bring to, I hope, the new Council a history of unselfish dedication to diverse community activities. It is said that only a valiant flea dares to eat his breakfast on the hip of a lion. The District of Columbia is indeed a lion-it is mighty-it is proud-it is vigorous and pugnacious-but it can be handled by responsible leadership. Support for the concept of new Council has come from every quarter of the District. It also comes from the members of this Committee who I am sure will continue their deep and abiding interest in the welfare of the residents of this great city. The CHAIRMAN. Anything further? If not we stand adjourned. Biographies of each of the nominees to the District of Columbia City Council, communications received on behalf of each, newspaper editorials and articles, statements, and the message from the President of the United States transmitting Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 to provide a better Government for the citizens of the Nation's Capital will be made an appendix to this hearing record. (See appendix "B", p. 151. (Whereupon, at 3:40 p.m., the committee adjourned subject to the call of the Chair.) 84-529-67- -9 APPENDIX A STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON INTENTION TO NOMINATE WALTER WASHINGTON AS COMMISSIONER AND THOMAS FLETCHER AS DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPTEMBER 6, 1967 Three weeks ago Congress approved a Reorganization Plan to bring modern government to the Nation's Capital. Even this new system can be only as strong and fair as the men who will lead it. That is why, for the last three weeks, I have engaged in an intensive search throughout the Nation to find the very best city executives for the posts of D.C. Commissioner and Assistant to the Commissioner. In that search, we have reviewed literally hundreds of names and records. Today, our search for a new D.C. Commissioner has come to a happy end. First, we have found a man who can provide the leadership, the vision, the understanding, and the talent to move the Capital City forward-steadily and surely. We have found a man who will be a strong and authentic voice for the people of the District. His name is Walter Edward Washington. I am sending his nomination to the Senate as soon as it re-convenes. I hope that it will receive speedy and favorable consideration. Walter Washington's adult life and his distinguished career have been spent in this city. He makes his home here. He is a graduate of Howard University and attended the American University in Washington. He has been a fighter for effective government in the Nation's Capital. He knows the people of this city-because he is one of them. The summary of the jobs he has held is an exciting story of commitment to the public service and the public good. He is a distinguished lawyer. He is a nationally famous specialist and innovator in urban problems. After joining the National Capital Housing Authority in 1941, he rose through the ranks to become its Director in 1961. He held that post for five eventful years. There he won the respect of his fellow citizens-not only in Washington but from urban experts throughout the Nation. A year ago, Walter Washington went to New York to take the job as Chairman of the New York City Housing Authority. Now Mr. Washington has expressed his desire to come back home to lead his city in the job of first responsibility to the 800,000 citizens of the District. He will be ably assisted by Mr. Thomas William Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher is now Deputy Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Throughout his career, Tom Fletcher has been a leader in city government. Over the past 15 years, he has been a city administrator-one of the best in the business. In 5 productive years as City Manager of San Diego, California-from 1961 to 1966-Tom Fletcher won a national reputation as one of America's outstanding city executives. There, he pioneered the most advanced city management-budgeting techniques. These have served as model for other cities. He is an expert fiscal planner. Tom Fletcher has earned the high praise and strong endorsements of the leaders of the nation's top municipal organizations: The National League of Cities, the International City Managers Association and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He is an innovator, he is experienced, highly respected and eminently qualified for his new job. He is a man who can make government work for the good of the people it serves. In a special way, the problems of the Nation's first city are also the problems of the Nation. No men in any other public jobs face more exciting or exacting challenges than this new team of leaders for Washington. We believe we have found the right men for the right jobs at the right time. 119 A WTOP EDITORIAL (This editorial was broadcast on September 6 and 7, 1967, over WTOP Radio and Television.) This is a WTOP Editorial. If there's a pleasant breeze blowing through Washington it's a sigh of relief that Walter Washington has indeed been appointed the first D.C. super com· missioner. President Johnson is known to be highly resentful of news advance knowledge concerning men he is thinking of naming to office, and Walter Washington's appointment certainly was known in advance. But there was no adverse effect at the White House. Mr. Washington's selection is now official. It's an excellent choice. Walter Washington is a native Washingtonian. He is an expert in housing and other municipal flash points. He has almost universal respect. And, of course, he is a Negro which seems to us to be appropriate in a big city whose majority population is Negro. The deputy commissioner-Thomas Fletcher-isn't very well known here. He couldn't be because he came to Washington only a couple of months ago to begin work as a deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. But his background is good. The deputy commissioner will be pretty much a technician, a man handling many of the nuts and bolts of city administration. Mr. Fletcher has a long career in municipal administration and was city manager of San Diego, California from 1961 until December of last year. Out there he's described as a "driver," an official who "works hard and knows the business of city government backwards and forwards." So what we have is one of the District's most respected natives as commissioner, backed by a well-trained assistant. And it's very pleasing that both men actually live in this city, Mr. Washington on T Street and Mr. Fletcher on Veazey Street. This is a good start to the reorganization and reformation of D.C. government. Now we all await the appointment of the nine members of the City Council who will play a vital role in helping make Washington the city it ought to be. This was a WTOP Editorial, Jack Jurey speaking for WTOP. SEPTEMBER 19, 1967. Hon. ALAN BIBLE, Chairman, Senate District Committee, New Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR BIBLE: The Federal City Council respectfully requests that these views on the reorganized governmental structure of the District of Columbia and the men named for two of the key administrative posts be entered into the record. The Federal City Council concurs in the widely-held opinion that the provisions of the President's Reorganization Plan No. 3 afford an opportunity for modernization, centralization of authority, and general improvement of the governmental machinery. We are encouraged by the qualifications, background, and proven experience of the men the President has appointed to serve as Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner-Walter Washington and Thomas Fletcher, whose appointments presently await confirmation by the Senate. The Federal City Council recognizes in the reorganization outline the opportunity for the evolution and development of an effective and efficient government. It also recognizes that the period of transition will be difficult and that the officials of the new government will need and must receive support and help from all organizations concerned with the improvement and growth of the District. As one such organization, the Federal City Council welcomes the opportunity to lend its support to these appointees and to cooperate with other officials and community groups in the interests of the city. Sincerely, L. A. JENNINGS, Chairman. STEPHEN AILES, President. |