District 5 candidate snapshots
Natalyn Archibong:
Age: 59
Occupation: Attorney, Atlanta City Councilwoman
Political/civic experience: Three terms on the Atlanta City Council. Founder of the East Atlanta Business Association and public school advocacy group OASIS: Organized Association of Schools in Southeast Atlanta.
Cash on hand: $29,455
Christian Enterkin:
Age: 33
Occupation: Vice President of Acquistions, Landmark Dividend
Political/civic experience: Public Safety Committee Chair for the Kirkwood Civic Association
Cash on hand: $9,090
John Paul Michalik:
Age: 37
Occupation: Designer/builder
Political experience: President of the 4th & S.A.N.D. Neighborhood Association in 2010 and 2011
Cash on hand: -$1,184
Matt Rinker:
Age: 36
Occupation: Multi-family property management
Political/civic experience: First political run, former presidential campaign volunteer. Civic work includes CHRIS Kids, Georgia Safe Schools Coalition, The Trevor Project, Project Open Hand, and Lost-N-Found Youth.
Cash on hand: $13,368
Atlanta City Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong’s recent ethics complaint is becoming fodder in her re-election bid, already the most crowded race on the city ballot next month.
Archibong, a three-term councilwoman representing parts of Southeast Atlanta, was fined $250 last month for using her brother’s consulting company for city work in 2007 and 2008 — a violation of an ordinance largely prohibiting city business deals with family members. Archibong also failed to report those transactions, which totaled more than $11,000, on her financial disclosure statements.
But in response to the complaint, the councilwoman had an unusual defense: her brother made no money off the deal, she said, and instead was a conduit to pay for printing services from Clifford Dill, a client she then represented in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
“There was no benefit to a family member,” said Archibong, who is a bankruptcy attorney. “When an outsider brought a complaint, I stood up and said, ‘I don’t agree anything was wrong, but if there’s any appearance of it, what do I need to do to be accountable?’”
That’s when Archibong negotiated a $250 fine with the city’s Board of Ethics in September.
The issue is catching steam in Archibong’s re-election bid, one marked by a now-infamous video of a young woman stealing Archibong yard signs posted in her district.
The incumbent is being challenged for her seat by Christian Enterkin, John Paul Michalik and Matt Rinker. A fourth candidate, Jonathan Jones, recently dropped out of the contest.
While many of the candidates said they entered the race because of crime in their communities and frustration with city services, Archibong’s ethics snafu, some say, speaks to a broader concern.
“It’s one more reason we need a change, and a change in politics as usual in Atlanta,” said Rinker, who has raised roughly $25,000 in his bid to unseat Archibong and has more than $13,000 in cash on hand.
Archibong carries more, nearly $30,000 in cash, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. She also has the backing of Mayor Kasim Reed and many in the business community, who are supporting her race through a newly-formed independent expenditure committee called Continue Atlanta’s Progress.
Rinker, who works in property management, noted Archibong paid a niece nearly $6,000 in the mid-2000s to draft a manual of office procedures. However, no city code existed at that time prohibiting awarding city business to extended family. Such rules were later tightened.
Michalik, a community activist and former head of 4th and S.A.N.D. Neighborhood Association, said he is less focused on Archibong’s ethics complaint than he is on crime issues and confusion with 911 services in the area. Residents in his part of town are often passed between DeKalb County and City of Atlanta first responders.
Challenger Christian Enterkin said she entered the race for similar reasons — a frustration with crime and services in her Kirkwood community. But Enterkin, who works in private equity, criticized the amount of the fine levied on Archibong over the ethics charge.
“What’s most concerning to me is the head of the ethics committee gave her a very small slap on the wrist and allowed her to settle,” said Enterkin, who has about $9,000 in cash in her campaign treasury. “Atlanta is too great to have its name dragged through the mud with all of these stupid unethical behaviors.”
Nina Hickson, the city’s ethics officer, said the board settled the complaint after reviewing records from the finance department, payments to vendors and discussing the case with Archibong.
“We presented what we had, but at the point she acknowledged what occurred, we began to talk about a resolution,” Hickson said.
Archibong said passing nearly $11,000 through her brother’s company, HSI Systems and Consultants, was necessary because Dill had “difficulty with negotiating checks and with carrying debt with trade printers” as a result of his bankruptcy.
But during that same time period, records show Archibong also used city funds to pay Dill Printing Company directly for printing services. When asked about the separate payments to HSI and to Dill Printing during the same time frame, Archibong said she couldn’t recall specifics as many of the records were no longer available.
Clifford Dill did not return a call for comment this week.
Archibong has maintained the transactions were above board and that her brother received no benefit.
She believes the ethics complaint against her was politically motivated.
“I have consistently supported increased transparency in government and a strong ethics code,” she said via email. “That position will not change based on any political campaign implications that suggest otherwise.”
About the Author
