Atlanta council’s budget bloated

Atlanta City Council members maintain that spending thousands of tax dollars to hire relatives, bestow flowers and gifts on constituents and serve smoked salmon at community meetings was perfectly legal. However, during a period in which the city was facing an historic deficit and people were losing their jobs, was it morally right?

What appears to be unnecessary and sometimes frivolous spending by the council, even as the city coffers were running dry, underscores a larger problem: The Atlanta City Council has a bloated budget, especially in comparison with similar-sized cities. Here, each member receives a $39,000 salary and $30,000 in a personal spending account, as well as $125,000 to pay for office staff and operations.

In view of the budget misery this year, the council slashed its spending accounts from $30,000 to $1,800. But council members balked at another critical cost-saving recommendation — returning whatever money is left over in their accounts — some members have upwards of $100,000 — at the end of the fiscal year to the city’s general fund.

They contend they’re responsible stewards and abide by the city code requiring that the money only go to “official city business.” An investigation by Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Jeremy Redmon found that council members define city business somewhat broadly.

He reported that council members spent $824,690 from their spending accounts in the two years leading up to Atlanta’s $140 million shortfall, which forced the city to lay off 372 employees and eliminate about 1,116 jobs. Among the expenses in fiscal years 2006 and 2007:

Councilman and 2009 mayoral candidate Ceasar Mitchell used $49,223 to pay his brother’s company for “consulting and project management,” bottles of water labeled with the city’s logo and official “Ceasar Mitchell” shirts and pullovers for his staff.

Mitchell wasn’t the only council member to turn “city business” into “family business.” Natalyn Mosby Archibong paid $5,866 to her niece to draft a manual of office procedures, including how to handle Archibong’s e-mail. When asked about the manual, Archibong e-mailed the AJC about six pages of instructions she said her niece wrote — which comes to about $1,000 a page. Councilman Jim Maddox paid his son $500 for a banner for a community Christmas parade.

Collectively, Council President Lisa Borders and council members C.T. Martin, Mitchell, Mary Norwood and Ivory Lee Young Jr. spent $5,288 on a caterer. Joyce Sheperd’s catering bill was $1,274. The council members said the food was for council and community meetings.

Taxpayers also paid for pullovers, jackets, throw blankets, blouses and other items for council retreats. On most company retreats, employees bring their own clothing. And companies usually book hotels with heat so employees don’t need throw blankets.

Taxpayers ought to be outraged that this spending occurred while the city was confronting historic deficits. And they should also be skeptical of some council members’ contention that they didn’t know it was inappropriate to put relatives on the payroll. As Mayor Shirley Franklin said, “I would not expect the public expects me to hire my family members. That is a standard I would set for myself.”

Speaking of standards, Franklin ought to be concerned about a lack of them in her finance office. When asked by the AJC, the department could not come up with the balances remaining in each council member’s spending accounts. Nor could the department produce any records for 2008 spending by council members.

— Maureen Downey, for the editorial board (mdowney@ajc.com)

ATLANTA CITY

COUNCIL SPENDING FOR 2006-07

In all, Atlanta City Council members spent $824,690 from their taxpayer-funded expense accounts in 2006 and 2007 combined, according to city Finance Department records. Council members, however, have disputed some of the numbers in those records, alleging duplications and other errors. Much of the 16 council members’ spending appears to be for allowed expenses. All numbers, except for the total, were rounded.

City Council President Council President Lisa M. Borders

$82,548

Carla Smith, District 1

$52,332

Kwanza Hall, District 2

$57,776

Ivory Lee Young Jr., District 3

$39,214

Cleta Winslow, District 4

$37,837

Natalyn Mosby Archibong, District 5

$68,038

Anne Fauver, District 6

$15,615

Howard Shook, District 7

$13,956

Clair Muller, District 8

$29,670

Felicia A. Moore, District 9

$74,444

C.T. Martin, District 10

$50,140

Jim Maddox, District 11

$15,529

Joyce Sheperd, District 12

$78,098

Ceasar C. Mitchell

At-large Post 1

$62,749

Mary Norwood

At-large Post 2

$106,445

H. Lamar Willis, At-large Post 3

$40,299

Total

$824,690

Source: Atlanta Finance Department