Should public dollar pay for PIZZA? What if it's that really, really good kind with gourmet cheese, spinach, and pineapples? Some critics say sure, even politicians have to eat; some say no, let that "glorious" civil servant salary pay for dominoes....Whichever the case, whether you are for extra cheese or not, a recent article in the AJC discussed "abuse of public funds" by City Council members for a myriad of things from family members, to private invitations, to extravagant catering.“I would not expect the public expects me to hire my family members,” [Mayor Shirley] Franklin said. “That is a standard I would set for myself.”
See the
article below...BE PREPARED, its long and includes A LOT of NAMES....
Several Atlanta City Council members have spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars over the past two years hiring their relatives for city work and handing out flowers, gifts and food to constituents, according to expense reports obtained under Georgia’s Open Records Act.
The money came from the spending accounts each council member controls. In all, they spent $824,690 in the two years leading up to Atlanta’s budget-busting $140 million shortfall, which prompted the city to lay off 372 employees and wipe out about 1,116 jobs.
Mary Norwood spent $57,715 on reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses in her district, including printing, mailing and postage for invitations to her town hall meetings.
Ceasar Mitchell paid $49,223 to a company owned by his brother for consulting work, labeled bottles of water and official ‘Ceaser Mitchell’ shirts for his staff.
Kwanza Hall paid $11,200 to NGP Software Inc., a Washington-based company that helps elect Democrats through its database and software consulting services.
The city code says council members are supposed to spend the money on “official city business.” It gives members wide latitude in spending, mentioning, among others uses, business travel, training, newsletters, office supplies. Such discretionary spending accounts are common across the country, particularly in larger cities.
Much of the 16 council members’ spending appears to be for allowed expenses. But among the payments was $49,223 from councilman and 2009 mayoral candidate Ceasar Mitchell to a company owned and operated by his brother and former council campaign manager, David Mitchell. City invoices show the payments were made for “consulting and project management,” bottles of water labeled with the city’s logo, and official “Ceasar Mitchell” shirts and pullovers for his staff.
The city’s ethics code prohibits council members from participating in city contracts in which their siblings have a financial interest. Ceasar Mitchell asked the city Ethics Board to issue an opinion on the transactions after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution inquired about them.
Also among council members’ expenditures in 2006 and 2007 were:
• $5,866 in payments from councilwoman
Natalyn Mosby Archibong’s account to her niece, Brittany Mosby. Archibong said she paid Mosby to draft a manual of office procedures, including how to handle Archibong’s e-mail. Asked for copies of Mosby’s work, Archibong e-mailed the AJC about six pages of instructions she said Mosby wrote. Archibong said Mosby also trained her staff on the procedures. The city’s ethics code does not prohibit council members from participating in city contracts with nieces. Mosby says she worked 40 hours a week for three months on that project;
•
Councilman Jim Maddox paid his son James Maddox Jr. $500 from his city account for a banner Jim Maddox said his son created for a community Christmas parade. Councilman Maddox provided records to the AJC showing the check was paid in January 2006, months before the council prohibited council members from getting involved in city contracts with their adult children. “At that time, it was no ethics violation,” he said;
• $11,200 from
Councilman Kwanza Hall to NGP Software Inc., a Washington-based company that helps elect Democrats through its database and software consulting services. On its Web site, the company describes itself as a “partisan” company that helps target voters and manage campaign fund-raising. City invoices show Hall’s payments covered software rental fees for “NGP Campaign Office Online” and “Contribution Web Package.” Hall paid the same company $2,612 from his election campaign fund for technical services in 2005, according to his campaign finance report. Hall said he continued paying for NGP’s services after he was elected, not for political purposes, but to keep in touch with his constituents;
• $7,767 to Land’s End Business Outfitters, an office clothing store, for pullovers, jackets, throw blankets, blouses and other items.
Council President Lisa Borders, who authorized the expenditures, said they were for council retreats. The money did not come from Borders’ individual account, but from a separate taxpayer-funded account set up to support the whole council;
• $5,288 to Catering with a Flair from
Borders, C.T. Martin, Mitchell, Mary Norwood, and Ivory Lee Young Jr.; and $1,274 to Bear Rock Café from Joyce Sheperd. The council members said the catering was for council and community meetings. Menu items included smoked salmon and shrimp creole;
• $3,993 to Fluff & Em Florist from:
Archibong, Sheperd, Carla Smith, Cleta Winslow and Young. Council members said they sent flowers to honor deceased constituents and other notable people in their communities;
• Martin paid a gift basket company called Signature Baskets $2,252, according to the city Finance Department’s records. He disputed that amount, saying several of the payments listed are duplicates. Martin said he sent the baskets to ailing constituents and the relatives of deceased constituents;
•
Borders, who dropped out of the mayoral race in August, made a $150 payment to the Atlanta branch of the NAACP for a ticket to its 2006 Freedom Fund Dinner. She made a $200 payment to The Atlanta Pride Committee for a parade entry fee. And she said she paid $700 to the United Negro College Fund to attend a fund-raising event with a friend;
•
Councilman H. Lamar Willis said he paid $675 from his account for some of his elderly constituents to attend the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s “King Celebration.”
Regarding Mitchell’s transactions with his brother’s company, the councilman said his brother did not make a profit on the goods he provided but merely expedited purchases and was later reimbursed by the city. Ceasar Mitchell showed the AJC some receipts that appeared to back up his claim. He said his brother charged him $50 an hour for professional services, adding the work his council office received from Pendulum was “far in excess of what was paid” by the city.
Mitchell authorized some of the payments to Pendulum Consulting before the city’s ethics code was amended in 2006 to prohibit council members from participating in city contracts in which they or their immediate family members — including siblings — have a “financial or personal interest.” He authorized most of the payments to Pendulum after that change in the law.
Ceasar Mitchell serves as the Pendulum’s registered agent, according to state records. The company was formed to handle “professional development of artists and entertainers,” according to its articles of incorporation.
He said he helped incorporate the business more than 10 years ago and initially served as its registered agent but said he is no longer in that role and receives nothing of value from the company. But he has kept a close relationship with the company. Using money from his campaign account, Mitchell paid the company about $84,000 in 2005 and 2006 for management services, workers, food, billboards and other expenses, according to his campaign finance reports.
Mitchell wrote the city Ethics Board on Oct. 10, after the AJC’s inquiry, asking whether he had complied with the law. He disclosed in that same letter that, through an oversight, he didn’t list his brother’s company on the financial disclosure forms he filed with the city this year and last. He said he has filed amended disclosure forms to correct the omissions.
“When I first engaged Pendulum to do work for me, I engaged them in good faith and understanding there was no prohibition against hiring a firm that was primarily owned by my brother,” Mitchell said. “When I heard there were questions being raised… I immediately went to the ethics officer and asked for guidance.”
The Ethics Board considered Mitchell’s request Thursday but took no action.
Five days before he sent his letter to the Ethics Board, Mitchell joined all the other council members in signing a letter to the city’s Integrity Steering Committee — which includes the city’s auditor, ethics officer and compliance manager — that asks for the panel to determine whether their expenditures for the past three years have complied with city laws.
The move raises questions about the council’s spending process, said Steven Olson, director of the Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility at Georgia State University.
“The fact that they now have to scramble backward to see if this passes muster probably tells us the process wasn’t as robust as it needed to be,” Olson said.
Among the people and vendors who have received the most money from these accounts are the council members themselves, according to the AJC’s review of public records. For example, councilwoman and mayoral candidate Norwood topped the list at $57,715 in payments from the fund. She showed the AJC receipts indicating those payments were reimbursements for her out-of-pocket expenses in her district, including printing, mailing and postage for invitations to her town hall meetings.
She said those meetings help her communicate with her constituents.
Under the city’s procurement code, council members are treated like department heads and may make “small purchases” with their expense accounts without seeking price quotes or competitive bids as long as the amount does not exceed $20,000.
Unspent money in the council accounts carries over to the next year, a practice Borders said she has proposed should end. The council has not addressed her proposal.
The council, however, did cut its expense account budgets from $30,000 per council member last fiscal year to $1,800 this year. The council cut its entire budget by $798,031, from $7.6 million last fiscal year to $6.8 million this fiscal year.
On Sept. 2, the AJC asked the city’s Finance Department for records of the council members’ 2008 expenses and the current balances in their accounts. City officials say they are still working on producing those reports. Meanwhile, several council members say don’t know how much money they have left in their accounts because the Finance Department can’t tell them. Others who have kept track of their own numbers say they have amassed large sums over the years. Councilwoman Clair Muller, for example, said she has $186,773 left in her council expense account.
Mayor Shirley Franklin’s office has its own city expense account. A review of 2006 and 2007 expenses from that account showed payments for professional training, pizza, catering and other services.
Franklin said the AJC’s findings about the council’s expenditures necessitate a review of the city’s procurement practices, the city’s ethics code and the Finance Department’s checks and balances.
She also said she would contact Ginny Looney, the city’s ethics officer, about Mitchell’s payments to Pendulum Consulting.
“I would not expect the public expects me to hire my family members,” Franklin said. “That is a standard I would set for myself.”
