2 councilmen to pay fines for ethics violations

Two Atlanta city councilmen will pay nearly $27,000 in fines and penalties for violations related to their council expense accounts, according to separate agreements reached Thursday evening with the city’s ethics board.

District 2 Councilman Kwanza Hall — who represents portions of downtown, Midtown and the Old Fourth Ward — spent $11,200 from his council account since 2006 to pay NGP Software, a political consulting firm, to provide information about voters in his district. An ethics board investigation found Hall used the information to send three e-mails that were of a political nature.

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AJC file

The city’s ethics board found that Ceasar Mitchell violated rules by spending $49,223 from his council expense account to hire his brother.

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LOUIE FAVORITE/AJC

Kwanza Hall: ‘I had no intent of breaking the rules and I accept full responsibility.’

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Hall paid a $750 fine Thursday, city ethics officer Ginny Looney said. The councilman is required to pay the city an additional $11,200 within the next six months.

“I had no intent of breaking the rules and I accept full responsibility,” Hall said Thursday.

The board found at-large councilman and mayoral candidate Ceasar Mitchell violated the city’s rules by spending $15,000 from his council expense account in 2006 through 2008 to hire his brother, David Mitchell, to help put together town hall meetings, outings for senior citizens to the Georgia Aquarium and “Ceasar Mitchell” T-shirts. The city prohibits elected officials and employees from hiring an immediate family member.

The councilman has said his brother didn’t make a profit on the goods and services he provided, but merely expedited purchases and was eventually reimbursed.

Mitchell also answered “no” to questions on city financial disclosure forms in 2007 and 2008 about whether any family members had benefitted from doing business with the city, also a violation of ethics guidelines.

Ethics officials said Mitchell has cooperated fully with its investigation and must pay two fines totaling $15,000 by March 1.

“I have not run from it. I have not hidden from it,” Mitchell said Wednesday. “This is just trying to bring some finality to it by taking responsibility.”