On Tuesday, the Atlanta City Council moved forward with legislation that would amend the city’s charter and create an Office of Inspector General. As a charter-changing amendment, the ordinance requires three reads and two adoptions by the Council. Tuesday’s vote was the second reading and first passage for the legislation. The final adoption is expected at the February 3 meeting.
“This legislation is a monumental step for the city of Atlanta,” said District 6 Council member Jennifer Ide, who introduced the legislation. “As a charter amendment, there will be additional consideration before it crosses the finish line, but today’s vote moved us closer to creating an inspector general’s office to root out waste, fraud and corruption. We want to make sure we finalize this legislation in a timely fashion so we can ensure we’re instituting greater transparency and accountability.”
The legislation is an attempt to ensure the rampant scandal that continues to unfold from the Kasim Reed administration is prevented going forward. The entire City Council signed on as sponsors of the legislation back in December. The proposal was born out of the report from the Task Force for the Promotion of Public Trust which was assembled by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore – a longtime critic of curious spending and other activities from the mayor’s office – is supportive of the plan but wants more work done to ensure the independence of the position, as well as some judicious consideration of the opponents of the plan. She has urged quick action though, to ensure the proposal does not die on the vine “I assert there is still a bit more due diligence left to perform and additional recommendations to consider. We find ourselves at this juncture, in part, due to our historical tendency toward embracing some stakeholder perspectives while excluding others. I encourage the Council to continue moving forward with this effort while also cautioning members to fully absorb the facts presented by those in opposition to the current iteration of this legislation.”
As more veterans from the Reed administration continue to make the news – two weeks ago, a former contracting official was sentenced to two years in prison for a pay-to-play scheme – most of the City Council is supportive of any measure with anti-corruption and accountability at the center.
“I do believe the City needs an IG so there is a robust investigative and enforcement system/mechanism in place for when city employees and officials do wrong. However, I also want to ensure the Ethics and Audit officers/boards maintain their independence and can keep doing their great and much needed work,” said Dustin Hillis, city councilman for District 9 in northwest Atlanta. “I look forward to reviewing what changes were made at today’s special FEC meeting and also to learning more at Tuesday’s meetings.”
There are some details to be hammered out, like possible limits on Inspector General power and who would be put under the IG’s authority, but passage is likely in February.
