Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms now displays an entirely different attitude than in past years when she was City Councilwoman Bottoms and a close ally of former Mayor Kasim Reed. She went along with Reed’s shady contracting schemes, especially refusing to join last year’s call by colleagues on City Council for a moratorium on new airport and other contracts.
But, after having taken office earlier this year, Bottoms now says “we are going to start over” with rebidding significant and lucrative airport contracts.
She is feeling the heat of the ongoing federal contracting/bribery investigation led by U.S. Attorney B.J. Pak into the Reed city hall. The probe has already resulted in indictments, convictions and prison time for Reed aides and vendors.
Remember that an 11-point demand by the feds required the city to turn over conflict-of-interest disclosures by fired city procurement officer Adam Smith, as well as all documents Smith controlled relating to contracts of $1 million or more since Jan. 1, 2014. This means that the probe’s focus continues to explore airport contracting. And remember that Smith– now in jail for bribe-taking– was close to Reed, who exercised tight control over the city airport department’s vendor contracting.
Recall, too, that Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport – the world’s busiest air terminus– ranks as perhaps the worst in the United States as measured by longtime cronyism and corruption.
No wonder a state Senate study committee has been holding hearings to discuss and learn about airport procurement and other operations. Insiders say a committee majority will no doubt recommend that legislation be filed for establishment of a state authority to replace city mayoral oversight over Hartsfield-Jackson.
