Atlanta Department of Watershed Commissioner Jo Ann Macrina is under fire after awarding several top employees five-figure raises, according to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Macrina awarded five employees pay hikes between $15,000 and $25,000 apiece. The commissioner also back-dated the pay to June 2013, documents show. The commissioner also back-dated the pay to June 2013.
Watershed has been plagued with theft and accusations of mismanagement in the past several months, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment missing or stolen. As a result, the department is under investigation by both Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration, city auditor Leslie Ward, the Atlanta Police Department and the Atlanta City Council.
Still, Macrina awarded $15,000 raises to Watershed’s head of security and safety, Yafet Bekele, and Watershed employee Ben Kuku. Documents obtained by the AJC through an open records request reveal the men’s pay increased by 13 percent and is now $125,000, up from $110,000 each.
Watershed Deputy Frank Stephens was given a $25,000 raise, increasing his salary by 20 percent to $150,000 annually. Watershed spokeswoman Scheree Rawles saw her pay rise from $99,700 to $125,000, a 25 percent increase.
After inquiries from The AJC Thursday, Reed quickly reversed the salary increases.
“Mayor Reed did not authorize these pay raises. On learning of them, he immediately directed the increases be reversed,” Reed spokesman Carlos Campos said in a statement Thursday. “…Mayor Reed is committed to ensuring ratepayers receive the highest levels of service and city employees remain good stewards of public money.”
Macrina could not be immediately reached for comment.
A city ordinance prohibits annual pay raises of more than 10 percent in a 12-month period. But Campos said the Watershed increases were not annual increases, but salary adjustments, and therefore not subject to the same rules.
Human Resources Commissioner Yvonne Yancey’s department signed off on the requests, dated January 17 and processed in February.
Before Reed’s reversal, District 9 Councilwoman Felicia Moore called for an investigation of the raises, which documents show were issued Jan. 17. Days later, Moore introduced legislation requesting a review of the agency’s security practices.
The councilwoman questioned awarding raises to those working in security at a time Watershed is making headlines for rampant theft. Missing or stolen items include 28, 700-pound industrial water meters worth $5,210 apiece, copper, pipes and more. A backhoe worth about $80,000 has also gone missing in recent months but has not yet been reported stolen to police.
“I can’t speak to Mr. Stephens or the rest, but they haven’t done a good job at this point in terms of loss prevention and inventory,” Moore said. “I don’t know why she would give them an increase. What did they do to justify it…?”
Moore also criticized the timing of the raises as the city continues to negotiate pay increases with police and firefighters, who have long complained about salary compression issues.
Last year those workers received a 1.5 percent raise. The city’s general employees were awarded 3.5 percent increases.
For updates, return to AJC.com.
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