The long-awaited findings of an investigation into possible wrongdoing in DeKalb County government won’t be revealed for another month.
Former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers said Thursday that he and investigator Richard Hyde will be late delivering their final report to Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May, who instigated the investigation.The findings were expected to be made public this week, but that probably won’t happen until Oct. 6.
The delay defies deadlines set May, who demanded specifics examples of corruption from the investigators after they called the county’s government “rotten to the core” in a memo last month.
“It’s just a lot of material to analyze and go through. We’ve been working weekends and nights, and we just can’t get it all together this week or early next week,” Bowers said. “We’re not going to rush this thing. We’re going to make sure it’s right.”
May, who hired the investigators in March, is frustrated because he wanted a report by early August, said spokesman Burke Brennan. May’s executive order that started the investigation said it would last at least 120 days.
“These delays are counterproductive to CEO May’s goal of restoring trust in county government,” Brennan said. “He is perplexed that it would take 60 days to write a 120-day report.”
May said in early August that the investigators wouldn’t be paid after Aug. 26, and Brennan reiterated that the county doesn’t plan to continue their funding. Brennan said Hyde is causing the delay because he’s taking a trip to Europe.
Bowers said he’s not going to discuss money because he doesn’t want that issue to be seen as influencing their report.
Through June, the investigation team had billed the county $673,504.
Bowers and May have been arguing over the report since Aug. 4, when Bowers planned to give an update to the DeKalb Commission. Instead, Bowers left the commission meeting after May’s staff told him he wasn’t on the agenda.
The next day, Bowers and Hyde sent a letter to May saying they had found “stunning” misconduct. Their letter didn’t provide details, but it reported broad allegations of bribery in a major county department, cover-ups of county property theft and “astounding” abuse of taxpayer-funded charge cards.
Bowers wrote in an Aug. 6 letter to May that he believed they had agreed that the final report would be completed and presented publicly Oct. 6. But May also wrote that day that they settled on the Aug. 26 deadline for issuance of the final written report.
Bowers told May’s staff last week that he needed another week to finish the report, but that timeline proved to be too ambitious.
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