ATLANTA -- It took a federal investigation to get Katrina Taylor Parks, a top aide to former Mayor Kasim Reed, to admit she took a bribe from a contractor. For Felicia Moore, the question is whether the city should be able to find corruption quicker.
"Right now, our compliance function doesn’t have any teeth," Moore said Wednesday. The City Council president wants the city to have an internal office that investigates allegations of criminal wrongdoing.
Currently the city has an ethics board, which looks at conflicts of interest among city workers.
It has an auditor which looks at how tax money is spent.
Moore proposes adding an office of compliance, which would look for legal violations. "What I want them to be able to do is similar to what the ethics board does, which is actually be able to sanction people, to fine people, to tell people they’ve done wrong, recommend removal or if they find criminal intent, they can refer it to a prosecuting agency," Moore said.
Prosecutors are already looking into a list of corruption allegations against another former city employee, Mitzi Bickers – another Reed confidant. They’ve gotten guilty pleas from Elvin Mitchell, Charles Richards and Adam Smith. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has also taken steps try to limit the ability of city workers to skirt the law.
Bottoms has asked for legislation to register lobbyists looking to influence the city.
She also wants to hire a transparency officer, the make the city’s business more public.
And her office is working top create a website called "open checkbook." That would enable folks to see city spending as it happens, more or less.
All that is still a work in progress.
