A week after selecting a new executive director for the Atlanta Citizen Review Board, the police oversight agency's Board of Directors asked all 150 applicants for the job to apply again because concerns have been raised the process wasn’t transparent.
The initial application period was closed after four days because the city was inundated with applicants.
But when Holly Wiseman, a former federal prosecutor and one-time deputy monitor of the New Orleans Police Department, asked to apply after the process was closed, she and another 13 people were allowed to do so.
The vote to offer the $100,000-a-year position to Wiseman was close. Moments after the April 12 meeting where the vote was taken, some board members became upset when they learned the application process had been reopened so Wiseman could apply.
Jody Williams, of the civil rights group the People’s Agenda, described the situation as "a mess."
Several times during the group's meeting Wednesday night, citizens in the audience shouted out their displeasure with the process and the vote.
“The board stood behind the process 100 percent until there was a vote,” said Moki Macias of the police watchdog group Building Local to Organize for Community Safety. “It seems very clear some people didn’t like the person who was selected.”
Of the four finalists, only Wiseman has experience running a police oversight agency. Sheena Robertson had come to work for the ACRB as an investigator in 2009. The other finalists were Grantville Police Chief Clyburn Halley and Atlanta Department of Public Works spokeswoman Valerie Bell-Smith.
Since November, the agency has operated with a part-time interim executive director who also practices law.
“I’m disappointed by the board’s decision, but I respect it,” Wiseman said from New Orleans, where she lives. “I will certainly be reapplying. I welcome the opportunity to serve the city of Atlanta."
The board has suffered controversy from its inception.
It was created to address the public’s distrust of Atlanta Police Department after a 92-year-old woman was shot dead in her living room during a botched drug raid in 2006.
The first executive director, Cristina Beamud, struggled for 3½ years with APD, the police union and some of the board members. Officers refused to answer questions from the board. The chief repeatedly rejected the board's recommendations if it went against an officer.
Even after her replacement was chosen, some of her detractors kept coming back to Beamud. On Wednesday, some suggested Beamud was behind the decision to reopen the application process.
Bill Casters of the city's Law Department told the board several times that it was common for the application process to be reopened. He also said five of the 14 who applied on that extra day, Jan. 9, were among the final 15. Two of them -- Wiseman and Robertson -- were among the four interviewed by the entire board.
“My concern is the disclosure of the information and the awareness that the job was going to be re-opened was [discussed by] a few people. Why wasn’t that information provided so we could be comfortable with that?” said board member Charis Johnson.
When the debate became personal, the board moved to go into executive session so its members could talk privately. Audience members responded angrily, demanding that the board stay in open session, but it stuck by its decision.
“We are truly concerned with this process,” said Helen Butler, speaking during the public comment section of the meeting. “For us, as regular citizens, it’s crucial that this be a transparent process."
After 15 minutes behind closed doors, the board came back and voted to reopen the process.
No dates have been set to apply. Those interested in the job are encouraged to check the city of Atlanta website, www.AtlantaGa.gov.
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