Atlanta City Council members — perhaps a majority– remain upset after a blistering city audit found numerous ethics problems and unexplained “errors” in Atlanta airport contracting. The Council’s transportation committee, which oversees the mayor’s procurement office and its contracts with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, listened incredulously to the audit summary the other day.
Nobody from the procurement office attended to give explanations or answer questions.
Several Council members tell this writer they want to investigate the errors and shady cancellations of contracts, as well as incorrectly-awarded contracts. Council transportation committee chairman Andre Dickens calls the revelations “horrible” and advocates quick reform.
Auditor Amanda Noble said “red flags indicate an elevated risk of fraud.” Some Council members felt she was being too diplomatic. The exposure of contract calculation “errors,” the unclear reasons for the cancellation of contracts and other problems prompted a visibly angry Councilman Howard Shook to demand answers from the procurement department. (City attorney Jeremy Berry told the media he was “terribly uncomfortable” talking about the audit “in public session.”)
As this is written, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has not given extensive answers to the questions raised by the Council members.
