Kasim Reed picks a second-in-command

By Cameron McWhirter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned that Kasim Reed has chosen Peter T. Aman, an Atlanta partner in the international business consulting firm Bain & Company, to be his chief operating officer, his second-in-command to run Georgia’s largest municipal government.

Aman will be Reed’s key adviser in setting policy and handling everything from cops to sewers.

Though Reed leads Mary Norwood, his opponent in last Tuesday’s runoff, by about 700 votes out of more than 83,000 cast, she said she will be asking for a recount next week, so Reed is not officially mayor-elect.

However, he has begun setting up an administration. He and Aman outlined their plans in exclusive interviews for a story in this Sunday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Though Aman, 43, has made his career in restructuring private industries (his specialty is revamping media companies), he is no stranger to the inner workings of city government. In 2001, he called to offer his pro bono services to then newly-elected mayor Shirley Franklin. Reed, then heading Franklin’s transition, picked up the telephone when Aman called. Beginning in 2002, Bain, under Aman’s direction, produced reports at no cost to the city that outlined major reforms in city operations and finances during the Franklin years.

The company estimated its free services to the city at $7 million. Not all those recommendations were adopted, and now Aman has a chance to change that as he takes over city operations.

He said he would become COO for a year while on leave from Bain. His salary has not been determined.