After an hour behind closed doors in an executive session, the Invest Atlanta board voted unanimously to create an ad hoc committee to perform an independent review of a $40,000 transaction between the city and its nonprofit fundraising arm, Partners For Prosperity.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported that Atlanta City Council in December approved $40,000 of unclaimed salary from former Mayor Kasim Reed being donated to Partners for Prosperity, which had less than $1,000 in its bank account and had never contributed money to Invest Atlanta or any of its projects.
But on March 5, the non-profit wrote a check for $40,000 back to the city. The money was used to cover a portion of an expensive and controversial trip Reed and several members of his staff took to South Africa in Spring 2017.
The transaction was named in a federal subpoena delivered to the city earlier this month in relation to the U.S. Attorney's Office widening corruption investigation at Atlanta City Hall.
“Obviously, there is a very public conversation and a lot of questions surrounding Partners for Prosperity and the transaction,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said after the meeting. “I think for all of us to have confidence in how that transaction took place, I think it’s important that we get an independent set of eyes, and feedback.
“It could be that everything was done appropriately and that will be the end of the discussion. Or it could be something more. I look forward to getting the independent assessment of it.”
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