Atlanta City Council wants to probe bonuses

ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council’s Finance Executive Committee wants the city’s auditor or ethics officer conduct an independent review of more than $518,000 in bonuses and gifts distributed in late 2017 by previous Mayor Kasim Reed.

The review must be completed within 30 days once the legislation is adopted.

“We have an audit and ethics department fully independent of the administration and the City Council,” Council President Felicia Moore said in a statement. “I think both need to be involved in this discussion. We’re going to leave it to them to do their best work and I’m sure they will.”

Finance Committee Chair and District 7 Councilmember Howard Shook introduced the resolution at the end of the meeting. The body of the resolution states that the Atlanta City Council determined the need to investigate the bonuses in an effort toward complete transparency and to ensure the appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.

Committee members also want to determine if the bonuses violated the city’s Code of Ordinances or state law.

The resolution will go before the full council on May 7.