Atlanta ends referendum consulting deal with former clerk after $910K paid

The city of Atlanta has terminated its contract with the former municipal clerk hired in 2023 to help with the name verification process for the public safety training center referendum — an effort that never began, but paid former clerk Foris Webb III $910,000 anyway.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported this week the city has paid Webb $35,000 in each of 26 monthly installments since September 2023. The city hired Webb to help with verifying the signatures on the referendum petitions as matching those of registered city voters.

In an email to Atlanta City Council members sent Thursday, newly appointed City Attorney Marquetta J. Bryan said she became aware of Webb’s contract after the AJC requested records of payments made for legal and consultant services related to the public safety training center.

Atlanta hired former clerk Foris Webb III to help verify the signatures on referendum petitions as matching those of registered city voters. (Courtesy of city of Atlanta)

Roughly one-third of the $2.8 million total spent on the issue went to Webb. Bryan told council members in the email that she terminated Webb’s contract Feb. 2.

“After this discovery, I have identified areas where immediate improvement is needed, particularly around financial oversight and consultant alignment, and I want to be transparent about the steps and stopgaps we are taking in the Law Department to address them,” Bryan’s email says.

The new policies are needed, the email states, “to ensure we are maximizing value and eliminating `surprises’ regarding budget and/or deliverables.”

The new measures include:

• Spending caps on consultant agreements.
• Requiring clearly defined fixed terms with start and end dates.
• Conducting “deep dive” briefings on contract scope.
• Dedicating a single contact within the city to manage consulting work.
• Implementing reviews of active consulting contracts.

“These measures are designed to provide better protection for the City’s budget, greater accountability to the citizens of Atlanta, and enhanced clarity for consultant relationships,” Bryan wrote. “While we value the work consultants perform, we will make certain the administrative management of such agreements is as disciplined as the project work itself.”

Nearly 2½ years ago, organizers of a first-of-its-kind petition effort submitted thousands of signatures to City Hall in hopes of clearing a threshold that would force a referendum on the question of whether to build the training center.

But those names have remained uncounted, and the referendum effort on pause, while a legal battle between organizers and the city played out in federal court.

According to invoices obtained by the AJC, Webb was paid to provide consulting on the referendum process, specifically to “shepherd the Referendum process on behalf of the City.” His duties also included responding to “media inquiries” about the referendum and providing “advice to the City in connection with the Referendum.”

Sixteen boxes of petitions with more than 100,000 signatures were gathered to have the training center included on the ballot for general consideration. (Miguel Martinez/AJC 2023)

It’s unclear who in the administration authorized Webb’s original employment and rate terms. His contract was signed by former City Attorney Nina Hickson and details that he’d be paid at a rate of $35,000 for each 30-day period — or $1,166 per day for work amounting to less than a full month.

The contract also does not include an end date or further details on the work expected to be done. Bryan said in her email the city would no longer enter “open-ended contracts.”

The mayor’s office did not respond to questions earlier this week about the work Webb has done, or if the payments were retainer fees to reserve his work on command. Webb also did not respond to questions from the AJC.