Here are some of the more notable departures from Mayor Kasim Reed's administration since it began in 2010. Some were amicable goodbyes with kind words shared; others were the result of ugly public battles.
As you read this, keep in mind that turnover is common in any public administration. Sometimes a new job is just a new job. You order a sheet cake and tearfully gather around a conference table.
Other times the mayor must keep his lieutenants accountable or quietly seek someone's removal outside of the public eye. The mayor may put his thumb on the scale even in cases when it's not officially his decision. We don't know the full story in many cases.
But for those of us trying to keep score at home, here's what we know:
2016
Jo Ann Macrina, former commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management
Macrina was hired in 2011 to replace Rob Hunter, who was dismissed in 2010 (interim commissioner Dexter White held the position in between). During a press conference to address the firings of Macrina and Miguel Southwell in May (see below), Mayor Reed declined to give a specific reason for Macrina's dismissal. He did say he needs a "steady hand" to lead the department. The department had a series of problems in recent years, including billing issues, Clean Water Act violations and a scathing audit that described lax security and missing or stolen equipment.
Miguel Southwell, former general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
Southwell's short tenure began in 2014, when he replaced Louis Miller, who retired at the end of 2013. As with Macrina, Mayor Reed declined to explain Southwell's departure but did express concern about the long security lines at the airport. It's possible that Southwell's handling of airport contracts contributed to his dismissal. The airport's most recent lease negotiation with Delta stretched four months longer than the mayor had expected. Lee Parks, a lawyer retained by Southwell, wrote a public letter to Reed suggesting that Southwell's dismissal was due to Reed wanting a greater say in how airport contracts were awarded. Reed countered in his own public statement that Southwell "is struggling to rescue what remains of his career and this is evident in the fact that he is now making false statements against my Administration and me."
Craig Richard, former CEO of Invest Atlanta
Richard resigned in January of this year after leading the economic development agency since late 2014. Neither he nor the mayor has explained his departure, but several people with knowledge of the decision say he was forced to resign. A few days prior, Richard had fired the agency's chief financial officer only three weeks after having hired him.
2015
Michael Geisler, former chief operating officer
Geisler resigned after less than two years as COO. He had replaced Duriya Farooqui in 2014. No explanation was given for Geisler's departure, but Reed's office stated that he left to "pursue a new career opportunity."
Kelvin Cochran, former fire chief
Cochran was fired in early 2015 after publishing and distributing a book about Christian values that described homosexuality as an "unclean" act and compared it to bestiality. Cochran's dismissal became the focus of a national fight over religious liberty and he has filed a wrongful termination suit against the city.
2014
James Shelby, former commissioner of the Department of Planning and Community Development
Shelby retired abruptly in 2014 from the office that oversees building permit fees. No explanation was given for his departure, but it came a few years after those fees were substantially increased. An audit one year after his departure suggested that the fee increases were arbitrarily set, with improper oversight, and were possibly in violation of state law.
George Dusenbury, former commissioner of Parks and Recreation
Dusenbury resigned in 2014 as part of a wave of departures at the start of Reed's second term. Dusenbury thanked Reed and the city for the "tremendous opportunity," and said that he hoped to return to the nonprofit sector. He didn't give a specific reason for leaving, but said, "Sometimes you get that sense of when it's time to move on, and I got that sense."
Brian McGowan, former CEO of Invest Atlanta
McGowan left Invest Atlanta in 2014 to become the Metro Atlanta Chamber's chief operating officer. He has since joined the global law firm Dentons. Reed had glowing words for McGowan upon his departure, saying the he "was instrumental in the re-positioning and growth of Invest Atlanta" and that McGowan "will continue to play a vital role in bringing new businesses to the city and the metropolitan Atlanta region."
Deborah Lum, former executive director of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency
Lum abruptly retired from the agency two days after the AJC found fiscal mismanagement in an expensive training program. At the time, the agency was also under federal investigation for its spending. A state report in 2011 cited fundamental leadership problems at the agency.
Duriya Farooqui, former chief operating officer
Farooqui had worked at City Hall since 2007 and took the COO position in 2011. In early 2014, she left the mayor's administration to join the global management consulting firm Bain & Co. Both Farooqui and Reed heaped praise on each other when the announcement was made. Her departure was among several made at the end of the mayor's first term.
Louis Miller, former general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
Miller retired at the start of 2014 after serving for most of Reed's first term and overseeing the opening of the airport's international terminal. Reed said that he expected Miller, then 65, to retire when he hired him three years earlier. Reed said that Miller "made sure Hartsfield-Jackson has maintained its status not only as the busiest passenger airport in the world, but also as the center of economic activity in our region."
2011
Peter Aman, former chief operating officer
Aman took a two-year break from his position as partner at Bain & Co. to serve as COO in 2009, so his 2011 departure under Reed was planned. He recently announced his candidacy for mayor.
Khaatim Sherrer El, former chairman of Atlanta Public Schools
El resigned in 2011 when the school board was trying to win back full accreditation in the wake of the cheating scandal. Under El's leadership, the board became bitterly divided and found itself put on probation. APS does not operate under the mayor and Reed does not have the power to fire any school board members. Still, Mayor Reed, who publicly sparred with El, applied pressure by announcing that he would support the board's new leadership once El was out. El finally relented but continued to wrangle over when his resignation would take effect. He eventually left Atlanta for Newark, N.J.
Dan Smith, former chief information officer
Smith was the city's second CIO, a position created under Mayor Shirley Franklin. Smith was hired to the post in 2008 under Franklin and continued to serve under Mayor Reed. In 2011, Smith left for other opportunities.
2010
Rob Hunter, former commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management
Hunter resigned in 2010 after a meeting at Reed's office. Four other deputy managers were fired at the same time. Hunter, hired by Mayor Shirley Franklin in 2004, is credited with modernizing the city's water and sewer systems, as well as putting those systems in line with a federal decree. His resignation, however, coincided with spikes in water bills and charges that the department wasn't responsive to customer complaints.
Ben DeCosta, former general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
DeCosta was the airport chief for 11 years and retired soon after Reed took office, and after Reed did not offer to extend his contract. DeCosta's lengthy time as GM was marked by several successes, including the building of a new runway and the start of the international terminal construction. But his final year saw him involved in contentious negotiations with Delta's new chief. Reed said of DeCosta's retirement, "At the end of the day, there was a conversation about us moving in a new direction."
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