Bid rigging wasn't what got a former Fulton County employee a new job working for the winner of a $3.3 million busing contract, an ethics probe has determined.
Rather, it was bad judgment by his county supervisors, who gave him their blessings to take the position even though Fulton's ethics code required him to wait a year before working for a county contractor, Fulton's Ethics Board found Monday.
The board ruled that former Transportation Coordinator Steve Everson violated that stipulation by going straight to work for California-based MV Transportation Inc. as its Atlanta general manager. The company won a contract last year to shuttle more than 3,000 seniors and developmentally disabled adults to senior centers, adult day centers, medical appointments and dialysis treatments.
However, the board ruled the violation was unintentional, so there will be no fines or recommendations to pull the contract. Everson's former supervisors, including Human Services Director Troy White, gave Everson and the company verbal permission for him to take the job.
"I don't understand what the brouhaha is all about," said Marty Lock, who represents the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce on the Ethics Board. "I think he went above and beyond to get the right approval."
Fulton Commission Chairman John Eaves, who filed the ethics complaint, had suggested Everson's adverse reports about a competitor may have given MV an edge in the bid process. He urged the Ethics Board to use its subpoena powers and call more witnesses, but the board declined.
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