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Paper trail at City Hall leads to recycling bin

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, standing in front of boxes of documents related to the City Hall bribery investigation during a February press conference. The city has used an outside law firm for the past year to help it identify and prepare documents for the public, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, standing in front of boxes of documents related to the City Hall bribery investigation during a February press conference. The city has used an outside law firm for the past year to help it identify and prepare documents for the public, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
By
Nov 16, 2017

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed Wednesday that the city of Atlanta has racked up more than $1.4 million in legal bills for producing records tied to the ongoing bribery scandal at City Hall.

A fraction of that expense went toward copying, redacting and boxing 1.4 million pages of records that were turned over to the media at a Mayor Kasim Reed press conference Feb. 9. Some 450 banker’s boxes stuffed with paper — much of it blank — filled the old city council chambers at City Hall, and proved the mayor’s declarations about the unprecedented release of public records.

What happened to all that paper?

ExploreFind out in the AJC’s special report on the legal costs of the bribery investigation.

About the Author

Dan Klepal is editor of the local government team, supervising nine reporters covering county and municipal governments and metro Atlanta. Klepal came to the AJC in 2012, after a long career covering city halls in Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky. He has covered Gwinnett and Cobb counties before spending three years on the investigative team.

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