Atlanta's Inspector General report accuses city of favoritism in bidding process
Atlanta Inspector General goes one-on-one with FOX 5
Atlanta’s Inspector General has dropped a new report accusing the city of favoritism in a bid for its 311 system. The mayor’s office has slammed that report as "wholly unprofessional" as some city officials want limits to put on the Inspector General’s Office.
ATLANTA - A new report from Atlanta's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) alleges city officials showed favoritism during the bidding process for a 311 software system.
The 29-page report released Wednesday claims that policy violations gave one company an unfair advantage.
"We found that there were communications that had happened in advance of a request for proposal," Shannon Manigault, Atlanta's Inspector General, said.
Manigault claims that the vendor used its connections to Mayor Andre Dickens’ transition team to gain access to city officials.
"We had a vendor who was citing its connection to the mayor's transition team in order to help gain access to city officials," Manigault said.
But the mayor's office swiftly dismissed the findings, calling the report "erroneous" and criticizing the OIG’s investigative methods as "wholly unprofessional and inappropriate."
In turn, Manigault stood by her team's work.
"I think that our report speaks for itself," she said. "We conducted an investigation. The emails, the records, the statements from interviewees all speak for themselves."
This controversy comes after Mayor Dickens made a surprise appearance at an OIG board meeting on Nov. 26.
"A lot of talk has been going on over the past several months, and I haven’t spoken. I haven’t been invited," Dickens said at the meeting.
The OIG was established in 2020 in the wake of a federal investigation into a pay-to-play scheme at City Hall.
Earlier this year, Manigault reported to the city council that there was a widespread effort to obstruct her office’s work.
The mayor then formed a task force to review the OIG’s operations and authority.
Council member Howard Shook said the task force raised several key questions.
"What is the IG's office allowed to do? What is the administration obligated to do?" Shook said. "Some stuff had to be cleaned up. And so that's why the task force was put together."
The task force has proposed several recommendations, including limiting the OIG’s power and requiring the office to notify individuals under investigation as soon as an inquiry begins.
Manigault expressed concerns over these proposals.
"I think taxpayers should be concerned about any threat to a body that's sole purpose is to weed out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption," she said.
Shook said the changes the task force has recommended would require a supermajority in the council to allow them to amend the city's charter.
He said it is not likely they will consider the recommendations until after the New Year.
The Source: FOX 5 Atlanta's Rob DiRienzo spoke with Shannon Manigault, Atlanta's Inspector General, one-on-one about several recent allegations levied against her office that were subjects of previous original reports. Links to those previous reports can be found in the article. Manigault also provided a 29-page report about favoritism during the bidding process for the city's 311 software system which is embedded in the original article.