After secret recording of police chief, new questions about payouts

Under the city of Atlanta’s recently revealed hardship program, six employees were allowed to trade in unused vacation, sick or compensatory time for cash. Three others received advance pay loans. City code allows for a portion of sick time exceeding annual carry-over limits to be paid at year’s end, and for vacation time to be paid if a worker leaves city employment.

Among those receiving payments, according to the city:

HANDLING HARDSHIP

Under the city of Atlanta’s recently revealed hardship program, six employees were allowed to trade in unused vacation, sick or compensatory time for cash. Three others received advance pay loans. City code allows for a portion of sick time exceeding annual carry-over limits to be paid at year’s end, and for vacation time to be paid if a worker leaves city employment.

Among those receiving payments, according to the city:

A secret recording in which Atlanta Police Chief George Turner refutes that he received nearly $80,000 because of a hardship is raising new questions about how and why Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration awarded payouts to select employees under a little-known “hardship program.”

The revelation, made in a recording obtained by Channel 2 Actions News, highlights inconsistencies between Turner and Reed’s version of events that led to the chief receiving $80,000 on top of his $241,000 annual salary last year.

In the recording, Turner flatly tells officers during a recent staff meeting that he didn’t have a hardship when he was paid five-figures last year for unused vacation time. Instead, Turner said that Reed opted to pay him for unused leave as the chief considered the benefits of retiring. Turner, who made the remarks in response to a question from an unknown officer, also noted that he loses hundreds of hours of vacation time annually.

“When the mayor was re-elected (in 2013), I said, ‘Mr. Mayor, I’m coming to work, and I’m making about $50 more a day that I could make if I retired,’” Turner says in the recording. “He said, ‘Chief what do you need? I want you to continue to be chief.’ He paid me for my vacation hours. That was his preference. I didn’t pay myself.”

Turner’s words are in direct conflict with the mayor, who said in August that he had nothing to do with the decision to pay select employees for unused vacation, sick and compensatory time.

Reed, as well as Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard and Human Resources Commissioner Yvonne Yancy, have insisted that the so-called hardship program was specifically geared toward helping employees in distress.

“The hardship requests did not reach me. I can’t opine on the thinking of the hardship request because they were made at the commissioner level and the CFO level,” Reed told the council in an August hearing on the issue. “…The only thing we were trying to do is help some people who needed help.”

Yancy and Beard approved the hardship payouts to at least nine employees since 2012. In addition to Turner, two top deputies received nearly $30,000 each for unused sick, vacation and comp time. While most received cash for unused leave, three employees received pay advance loans.

District 9 Councilwoman Felicia Moore has repeatedly said those actions violate city code, which only allows for a fraction of sick time to be paid at year's end, and for vacation time to be paid when a worker leaves city employment. Several employees have decried the payments as unfair and a sign of cronyism. And last week, City Attorney Cathy Hampton said the issue puts the the city at legal risk.

Reed, who quickly suspended the program following complaints in August, has said the payouts were an "error." But he's insisted that they were legal. Reed has previously cited two laws that he said gave Beard and Yancy broad discretion to award the payments. One such law reads that a CFO can make operating expenditure decisions "with the approval of the mayor." After The Atlanta Journal-Constitution repeatedly requested documentation of that approval, Reed spokeswoman Anne Torres confirmed no such approval exists.

Reed was traveling Monday and was unavailable for an interview about the differing accounts. Turner’s office declined an interview request. Instead, both offices issued statements, though neither provides much clarity about the conflicting words.

Torres said the administration stands by Reed’s public statements that he did not call for Turner to be paid for unused vacation time.

“The administration’s position on this issue has never changed. Mayor Reed did not authorize any of the payouts. He was aware of the chief’s financial hardship,” she said.

In a statement issued by APD spokesman Carlos Campos, Turner said while he personally didn’t have a financial hardship, “some serious medical issues arose in my family that created a tremendous financial burden on my loved ones. I chose to assist them with financial support.”

Turner said he will not discuss his family’s “private medical matters,” and also noted all of the vacation time he was paid for was earned during his 33-year career with the police department.

But neither spokesperson addressed questions about whether Reed refutes Turner’s statements that he was involved in the payouts, or whether the mayor directed staff to compensate Turner in some way to prevent him from retiring.

Aside from Moore, the Atlanta City Council has largely signaled a desire to move on from the issue and is considering adopting new rules that could increase the amount of vacation and sick time employees are paid for at year’s end.

But the audio recording bring the issue back into sharp focus as public safety workers are calling, again, for answers.

The payout problems come as public safety unions are embroiled in a $48 million lawsuit with the city over the pension reform Reed championed in his first term. Reed has said that legal battle is why he won't approve raises or address pay inequity problems while the unions challenge the reform.

Speaking to the council on Monday, Atlanta Police Investigator David Canup said he’s never seen morale lower on the force, and that many are looking for new jobs.

“This goes beyond the monetary value of the payouts … We have people throughout this city that are treated differently because of who they know, who they are friends with, or what their position is,” he said.

Canup said officers want the truth about the circumstances under which the payouts were awarded. “I think we all deserve it. The city deserves it. But it’s not what we’re getting.”

The issue has been a thorn in Reed’s side since first coming to light in August. Some councilmembers have criticized the administration as being slow to respond with full answers about the hardship program, which many city employees say they were unaware existed.

Reed has also said the decisions to award money for leave time were minor compared to hiring practices between 2002 and 2007 under former Mayor Shirley Franklin. During that time, between 100 and 200 people were allowed to leave city employment, collect benefits and quickly be rehired, he said.

Following that meeting in August, The AJC asked for documents to back up his assertion. Despite several requests under Georgia’s Open Records Laws, Reed’s office hasn’t provided all of the supporting data. The administration ultimately released a list of 98 employees, but the document did not contain information that verifies Reed’s claim. However, Yancy told councilmembers last week that her office is still compiling that information.

Moore said Monday that she’s still waiting for that data. And she’s now asking for answers about inconsistencies raised in the recording of Turner.

“For this one councilmember, it erodes whatever trust there is there. It erodes the trust of our employees and continues to erode the trust of our citizens,” she said. “I know people want this issue to go away …but I think the truth really needs to come out and be told.”