The Atlanta City Council and Mayor Andre Dickens’ administration both agree that an investigation is warranted into a questionable contract with the former city clerk that originated during the height of debate over Atlanta’s public safety training facility.
But the lawmakers couldn’t agree Monday if the investigation should be conducted by outside counsel, or internally by the city’s inspector general or auditor.
The council ultimately pressed pause on legislation and sent it back to committee for more debate.
Former Clerk Foris Webb III had just retired after more than three decades with the city when he was hired as a consultant to “shepherd” the process of counting and verifying more than 100,000 signatures collected by opponents of the controversial public safety training center in an attempt to force a referendum.
But the names were never counted and remain sealed inside boxes at Atlanta City Hall as the petition is held up in federal court. Still, Webb collected $910,000 from the city in 26 monthly installments of $35,000 each through an open-ended consulting contract.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported on the payments, and it was an AJC open records request that brought the contract to the attention of the new city attorney, who canceled the agreement and has since installed new procedures to better safeguard against a repeat.
Both Dickens and City Council members have voiced support for an investigation, albeit with the mayor’s office placing blame for the payments on the clerk’s office and the council.
Council member Alex Wan argued that the city should handle the probe internally.
“Fraud, malfeasance, waste, abuse fall under their purview,” he said, referring to the OIG and auditor. “So why would we not start there and have them look at it first? And if we start finding things, then it leads to a further and more complex investigation and we take that next step.”
But others questioned using a city office.
“If we do this in-house, do we hold the trust of the public in doing it?” Council member Liliana Bakhtiari asked. “Because I am concerned about the headlines and how it’s been framed to the public that if it were in-house, that there would be concerns about it being done transparently.”
The debate over who should investigate comes after controversy racked the city’s Office of the Inspector General last year. After a bitter feud between Dickens and the city’s former top watchdog Shannon Manigault, the office was overhauled — critics arguing that the changes hamstringed its ability to conduct investigations.
Dickens also faced pushback for appointing interim inspector general LaDawn Blackett, who still leads the office after being appointed in March 2025.
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City Council passes prearrest diversion legislation
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
With the FIFA World Cup looming, Atlanta City Council backed a resolution Monday urging the police department to prioritize prearrest diversion services, which connect low-level offenders with resources instead of jail time.
The legislation, authored by Council member Kelsea Bond, urges the department to utilize the city and Fulton County’s new diversion center that’s fallen far short of the number of people it was expected to service since opening in 2024.
While it is designed to serve more than 40 people per day, it has averaged just three, according to Fulton County officials.
Community and criminal justice advocates voiced support Monday for the measure and increased diversion efforts which, they say, will help avoid mass arrests during the FIFA World Cup this summer and help relieve overcrowding at the embattled Fulton County jail.
“The city should be preparing now to manage low-level offenses in ways that are efficient, effective and humane, rather than relying on punitive measures that will only criminalize poverty and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis at the Fulton County jail at a time when the world’s attention will be on the city,” said Christine Kittle, an organizer with the Legal Defense fund.
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Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
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