Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration released Tuesday the names of 13 people fired from the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management late last week.

Among the employees is Yafet Bekele, Watershed’s director of safety and security, and a half dozen managers in security and inventory. The terminations come after the city’s law department concluded an investigation into reports of theft and mismanagement inside the agency.

Still, Reed officials haven’t said why the employees were let go and whether the decision was connected to the investigation.

Reed spokeswoman Anne Torres has said the actions “were deemed necessary and appropriate.”

Attempts to reach Bekele on Tuesday were unsuccessful. Watershed also recently terminated Ben Kuku, a longtime employee and director of the Office of Customer and Business Services.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Cox Enterprises CEO Alex Taylor and AJC Publisher Andrew Morse were joined by AJC editors and Atlanta business react during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Midtown on Friday, January 24, 2025.
(Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Featured

Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo