DeKalb commission steamed over severance

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DeKalb County officials say they may have made a mistake when they paid a spokeswoman more than $62,000 after she resigned.

After learning more about the payout -- which includes $4,000 in car allowance -- county commissioners said they plan to pass a policy governing severance packages.

Some commissioners also are upset to learn that county CEO Burrell Ellis authorized car allowances to certain officials after the commission had cut back on county-owned cars to save money.

A joint investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News found that the county issued former Chief Communications Officer Shelia Edwards the check for the car allowance a month after she resigned in July. That allowance, along with more than $12,000 for unused vacation days, was in addition to the $45,000 severance agreement when Edwards quit.

The payments to Edwards, along with separate severance deals to a former chief operating officer and fire chief, have commissioners vowing action.

“That’s something that will not happen any longer,” said commissioner Lee May. “We’ve seen enough of these severances by now to know this is something we need to look at.”

Edwards did not return phone calls Tuesday.

Commissioners said they didn’t know about Edwards’ additional payout, nor that the CEO had made plans to spend $113,000 this fiscal year on car allowances. That money is on top of the 381 take-home cars assigned to county workers, mostly police officers.

The commission last year cut 30 cars from the take-home fleet. Ellis at the same time authorized car allowances of $300 to $550 a month for 27 county officials, the AJC-WSB investigation showed.

Ellis has told the AJC that he likely will limit severance packages in the future. On Tuesday, a spokesman for Ellis said Edwards was entitled to a car allowance for eight months in 2009, but did not sign up for the payments until after she resigned.

Former COO Keith Barker signed off last month on Edwards’ additional $4,000 payment, according to a memo obtained by the AJC. That happened just days before Barker was terminated for a sexual indiscretion, and he is now receiving $100,000 in severance.

Ellis “has said her [Edwards’] separation may have been handled differently,” said Burke Brennan, the Ellis spokesman. “I was not part of those negotiations and don’t know why she was given that retroactive car allowance . . . We know there are some improvements we need to make.”

Commissioner Elaine Boyer called the car allowance granted to Edwards, “a payout, short and simple . . . “We’re all struggling to make ends meet. We thought we had cut out take-home cars for everyone but public safety. And now we keep finding additional expenses we never knew about.”

Commissioners said they think reimbursing employees for gas is cheaper than the monthly stipend, but there is little they can do now. The commission cannot reverse car allowances already promised this year, Boyer said.

“It is another way of increasing their salary,” Commissioner Jeff Rader told the AJC. “It’s been a habit and is a habit that needs to be examined. It’s treated by the IRS as salary, so it should be considered salary.”

Rader said he was shocked to see the titles of some of the employees receiving car allowances, including county attorneys, parks directors and purchasing officials.

Commissioners also receive $300 a month in car allowance, May said.

Purchasing director Kelvin Walton said he drives more than $500 worth of mileage each month for county meetings and “procurement outreach activities.”

Parks director Roy Wilson said he uses his car to travel to DeKalb’s 129 parks and 12 recreation centers.

“I don’t think it’s enough for the gas I use and the mileage I put on my car,” Wilson said.

Jonathan Weintraub, deputy chief operating officer for development, said his monthly $500 is justified. “I have to run all over the place,” he said. “And I have to represent the CEO at functions outside DeKalb. If I have to turn in an expense report, the administrative costs would be much more than this.”

Ellis has access to a county-owned SUV, along with a sheriff’s deputy as driver and bodyguard.

Cobb and Gwinnett counties also give car allowances to some officials.

Cobb gives 30 officials a car allowance of up to $600 a month. Thirteen Gwinnett officials are assigned county vehicles or get a $340 monthly allowance. The Gwinnett county administrator gets a $700 monthly allowance, county spokesman Joe Sorenson said. In Fulton, 14 county executives get take-home car privileges, not including police, a county spokeswoman said.

Viola Davis, founder of DeKalb Unhappy Taxpayers, sharply criticized the car allowance paid to Edwards in addition to severance. She wants to restrict take-home cars to public safety workers.

“Shelia Edwards should have never got any money because she quit. She needs to return that money to the taxpayers and voters.” said Davis.

Edwards quit abruptly after officers complained she called a police-involved shooting in New Jersey a murder prior to any charges being filed. Edwards at the time had taken time off from her county job to do “volunteer” public relations work for the family of an Atlanta banker shot by police in New Jersey.