Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves has asked Attorney General Sam Olens to investigate the appointment of an Atlanta City Councilmember to the authority that oversees Turner Field.
Last month, the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority board voted unanimously to name Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms – an attorney and ally of Mayor Kasim Reed – the authority’s executive director. Eaves decried the move, calling it a power play by Reed to control the authority as he negotiates the possible sale of Turner Field.
Now Eaves has asked Olens to determine whether the appointment violates city ethics rules. Among other things, he’s asked the attorney general to determine whether Bottoms’ interests as executive director conflict with her role as a councilmember.
Reed, who controls the majority of the authority’s board seats, has defended the appointment as legal and ethical.
» VIEW AND COMMENT: See the Fulton County notice of potential ethical violations
On Friday he blasted Eaves when asked about him at a press conference, accusing Eaves of playing politics when he removed Fulton Commissioner Joan Garner from the authority after she voted to hire Bottoms.
“I think this is a bunch of false controversy. At the end of the day, no matter what happens, the result is going to be the same,” Reed said, adding: “I think it’s just a lot of histrionics and now his behavior is just funny to me.”
Reed didn’t stop there, adding that Eaves is “bitter” over Bottoms’ new $135,000 salary at the authority. He said Eaves is upset over a failed attempt years ago to turn the Fulton chairman position into a full-time gig.
“He’s just bitter because he doesn’t have that, and I think it’s unfortunate,” he said.
Bottoms said she has reached out to Eaves to talk about his concerns, but that he hasn’t agreed to meet. She hopes the query to Olens settles the issue.
“If that is what is needed to help everybody move on and help the process move along, then I am completely willing and prepared to cooperate in whatever way is necessary,” she said.
She points out that she first consulted with the city ethics officer, Nina Hickson, who found no clear ethical conflict with her holding both positions.
In the April 3 opinion, Hickson advised that while the city code doesn’t prohibit a councilmember from working for the authority, the councilmember and authority board should evaluate whether the employment poses “an appearance of impropriety” that could cause a”taxpayer to question whether the interest of a councilmember serving in this position impairs that person’s ability to act in the best interest of the city.”
Read more about recent conflicts between Eaves and Reed on MYAJC.com.
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