Caught in the middle of a power struggle, the nominee to be the new executive director of Atlanta's independent Board of Ethics took herself out of contention over the weekend.
But the tussle over one of the most powerful posts in Atlanta city government may continue even with onetime state ethics officer Stacey Kalberman out of the picture. Some members of Atlanta's City Council have indicated they want more say over a watchdog that can dish out fines and heavy censures.
Critics say that would be a terrible idea.
Ironically, the legislation that Kalberman and others said would threaten the ethics officer's independence was shelved Monday, a day after she dropped out of the process. Kalberman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she had become frustrated after weeks of delays and haggling over her nomination.
"I became very disheartened after the last meeting," Kalberman said Monday. "I became very skeptical. I didn't like the direction I saw."
Kalberman previously said she was forced out of her job as executive director of the state ethics commission after she pushed an investigation of the campaign of Gov. Nathan Deal.
Atlanta's ethics officer is chosen by an independent board that in term is nominated by local business, legal, civic and educational organizations. Along with the city's internal auditor and director of the police- and corrections-focused Citizens Review Board, the ethics officers stands out among city officials because she does not work for the mayor or City Council.
The Board of Ethics has an annual budget of roughly $341,000. Last year, it handled 50 delinquent filer cases and referred four cases to the Solicitor’s Office for prosecution. It completed 13 ethics investigations, and has purview over cases involving conflicts of interest, gifts and financial disclosures.
On Monday, lawyers, activists and City Council members debated legislation that would have given the City Council more say over who is chosen as executive director of the ethics board.
The legislation, written by City Councilman H. Lamar Willis, would have required the ethics board to submit its top three choices for executive director. The City Council would then decide the winner. Currently, the board only sends only one name to the Council, which can vote the nomination up or down.
John Lewis Jr., a top lawyer at Coca-Cola Co. who helped select Kalberman as the nominee, called the changes "an astonishingly bad idea."
"The ethics board is not susceptible to the whims of those who are currently in office," Lewis said. "I would urge you not to insert politics into selecting an ethics officer."
But Willis said the changes would help the City Council oversee important actions in Atlanta.
"We're not taking power away," he said. "This legislation really only speaks to the hiring."
By the time the City Council subcommittee had voted to "file" Willis' legislation -- in other words, to keep it on the shelf -- Kalberman had taken herself out of the running.
"I'm really saddened," said Paula Frederick, general counsel of the State Bar of Georgia. "She was not afraid of anyone. She would have done it without fear for her own job. We've lost that, and that's a shame."
Before the vote, City Councilwoman Cleta Winslow said she was unhappy with what she described as an imperious attitude from the ethics board.
"It's like, ‘the board is over you, we're your overseer,'" she said. "That's very disturbing to me. I get that sense and I can't shake it."
Both Winslow and Willis have been fined since 2010 for ethics violations: Winslow for using taxpayers' money to boost her 2009 re-election campaign, and Willis for accepting money for his foundation from companies and individuals doing business with the city.
Willis insisted his legislation was not connected to the investigations or fines.
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