Clayton hires ex-MARTA chief arrested in sex case

A former MARTA chairman arrested last year for allegedly having sex in an airport bathroom will now be providing financial advice to Clayton County.

The Clayton County Commission voted 3-2 Tuesday night to hire Edmund J. Wall to provide investment banking services to the county. Commissioners Wole Ralph and Sonna Singleton voted against the hire.

Wall was arrested in March 2007 after police said they found him having sex with another man in a bathroom at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Wall was charged with public indecency and resigned as chairman of the MARTA board of directors, although he remains a member of the board.

Wall, who attended the meeting but did not speak, said afterward that he had pleaded not guilty to the charges. “I suffered through it, but I got back up,” he said.

County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell said the case is still pending and Wall is “innocent until proven guilty.”

Bell said Wall has provided financial advice on and off to the county since 1988. The move Tuesday makes that relationship official and extends a contract to him to advise Clayton officials how to invest during the unstable economy, Bell said. Wall said he has consulted and handled investments for numerous governments throughout Georgia.

“My only concern is that the county is moving forward and he has done an outstanding job with county investments in the past,” Bell said.

“This is simply putting in place a financial adviser. The state of the economy requires expert advice, which he will give us,” Bell told the commission.

Bell added that because Wall had done previous work for the county there was no need to advertise the opening.

Ralph argued that it was improper to rank Wall above county finance director Angela Jackson. Jackson was not at Tuesday’s meeting.

Bell said Jackson would continue handling the county’s budget and day-to-day spending, while Wall will handle investments.

The contract gives Wall 1.5 percent of every dollar he invests, along with $200 an hour. He will be tasked with underwriting $68 million in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds, managing the county pension plan and handling debt for the expansion of Tara Field.

Although Wall will recommend how the county invests its money, the commission will have final say on all financial decisions, county attorney Michael Smith said.