Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros is warning President Clinton that he risks alienating urban supporters if he focuses solely on crime without offering solutions to other urban crises, an internal memo shows.
In the confidential memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, Cisneros urged Clinton to "speak to your urban base and describe what you are doing" for the poor before they begin to feel ignored."The crime that is so widely reported is but one manifestation of our nation's pain," Cisneros wrote. "You have in place the threads of programs which can be woven together into a coherent fabric of urban policy."
Last month, Cisneros defended Clinton's lack of a formal urban policy, saying the president proved his commitment to urban areas by setting up a "community enterprise board" to implement reforms that will help distressed cities.
But the memo, dated Nov. 24, five days after Cisneros defended Clinton, pressed the president to draft an urban policy so it wouldn't look as if he's only paying lip service to city problems.
"There will come a moment when people will say: `Yes, Mr. President, we hear you, but we need your help. We need you to do something,' " Cisneros wrote. "Already the critics say we have no beef behind our good intentions on matters of urban investment and race."
He suggested that the policy include tax and housing credits for the working poor, expanded home ownership programs, Head Start, child immunization and economic "empowerment" zones that encourage business development.