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Atlanta’s Inspector General defends against claims of overreach in City Hall probes

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Updated  October 8, 2024 7:40pm EDT
Atlanta
FOX 5 Atlanta

Atlanta inspector general in the hot seat

Several people addressed the Mayor's Task Force to complain about the Inspector General's office, which was formed in 2020 after a federal probe into corruption at Atlanta's City Hall.

In brief:

    • Atlanta’s Office of the Inspector General is facing scrutiny for its handling city probes.
    • Inspector General Shannon Manigault defended her agency against claims of rights violations and improper tactics during a task force meeting.
    • A task force, created by Mayor Andre Dickens and chaired by former Chief Justice Ward Sears, is examining the OIG’s operations against city charter standards and its independence from political influence.
    • Some city employees allege the OIG has overstepped by confiscating personal property, although Inspector General Manigault denies such actions.
    • The task force has 45 days from its formation to present recommendations on the OIG’s practices and its relationship with the mayor's office.

ATLANTA - Nearly a week after Atlanta’s Office of the Inspector General (OIS) released a damning report about a potential "pay to play" bribery scheme in the Department of City Planning's Light Commercial Division, the office itself is under intense scrutiny. 

Inspector General Shannon Manigault appeared before a meeting of a task force created by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to investigate the OIS and the city’s Ethics Office on Tuesday to defend allegations that her watchdog agency used questionable tactics while investigating fraud, corruption, and misconduct in City Hall. Some city employees have claimed the OIS violated their rights during the investigation process. Several of those employees spoke during Tuesday’s task force meeting. 

"I've been the subject of an IG investigation, dealing with the warming centers," one man told the task force. 

The OIG was created back in 2020 after an embarrassing federal probe into corruption at Atlanta's City Hall that led to several people doing federal time. 

Just last week, the OIG identified two former employees and their supervisor whom the OIG believes were involved in bribing contractors, but many have disagreed with the OIG's tactics and accused investigators of trampling on employees' rights. 

"Employees who felt that their rights have been abrogated or violated as far as visits to their homes, computers, phones being confiscated," said Calvin Blackburn, interim commissioner for the Department of Human Resources. 

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The city of Atlanta's Inspector General's Office holds a meeting on Oct. 8, 2024. (FOX 5)

However, Manigault, Atlanta's top accountability officer, says those allegations are not true. 

"We've never searched any employees' personal equipment, cell phones, or bags. We have never denied an employee a personal attorney for an interview," Manigault insisted. 

It is no secret that the mayor's office and the OIG have not seen eye to eye. That is one of the reasons this task force was formed in September, chaired by Ward Sears, the former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. The task force will scrutinize how the OIS operates and compare it to Article 8 of the city charter, which established the oversight agency as an independent review division, as Manigault echoed in her closing statement to the task force. 

"We want to flag for this task force and the public the inherent danger of allowing the mayor and any elected officials to interfere with the Office of the Inspector General," Manigault emphasized. 

The mayor's task force is on a 45-day timeline to make their recommendations. 

Sources:

  • Atlanta mayor's task force; Atlanta’s Office of the Inspector General

AtlantaAtlanta City CouncilNewsAndre Dickens