Reed’s office to employees on their future: “Yes or no”

To find out whether his cabinet members want to serve a second term, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s office made a simple request: Check yes or no.

In a Dec. 2 memo sent from Chief of Staff Candace Byrd, Reed’s top advisers and officials were asked to indicate by marking a “yes” or “no” box whether they want to remain in his administration for the next four years. Within days, Hartsfield-Jackson airport General Manager Louis Miller and Chief Operating Officer Duriya Farooqui announced their departure.

Copies of the letters obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and recent remarks by Reed reveal more about how the mayor is going about restructuring his administration and suggest additional changes could be coming.

The memo thanks employees for their service and notes their tenure with Reed ends Dec. 31, when his first term expires.

“This letter is to determine your interest in serving a second term with this administration,” Byrd wrote. “Please indicate via the boxes below whether you would like to continue to serve with the Reed administration.”

While Byrd asked employees their preference, she stopped short of assuring their jobs are safe.

Reed acknowledged he is considering staffing changes in a recent interview at the December Atlanta Committee for Progress meeting, a quarterly work session with local CEOs and other powerful business and civic leaders. Then, the mayor said he took the advice of ACP executives in querying his employees about their plans.

“I have some decisions to make about whether we’ll be making further changes,” Reed said last week, adding his administration has seen relatively little turnover in four years.

Former Chief Financial Officer Joya De Foor left in 2011, replaced by Jim Beard. Farooqui became COO after the planned departure of Peter Aman.

The notes were issued to all members of his cabinet, which includes high-ranking officials such as Atlanta Police Chief George Turner, Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran, Invest Atlanta CEO Brian McGowan and Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO Paul Morris.

Reed does not have sole control over hiring McGowan and Morris, but serves on the boards of both organizations.

All but Miller and Farooqui reported a desire to remain at City Hall. Most simply checked “yes,” while others added embellishment.

Yvonne Yancy, Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources, checked yes and drew a smiley face.

Watershed Management Commissioner Jo Ann Macrina marked yes and wrote a note: “Ms. Byrd, I would be honored to serve with the Reed Administration for the next four years.”

McGowan indicated yes and added three exclamation marks for emphasis.

Byrd, in a letter to herself, simply checked the “yes” box.

Steve Anthony, a political science lecturer at Georgia State University and former chief of staff to Democratic House Speaker Tom Murphy, said the tactic was unusual but not unheard of. Former Republican Governor Sonny Perdue issued similar letters to his staff while in office, he said.