The former leader of the DeKalb County ethics office is accused of harboring a “negative bias towards Black people,” according to a complaint filed by the deputy ethics officer and obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Deputy ethics officer LaTonya Nix Wiley also alleges that other officials did little to address her concerns about ethics officer Stacey Kalberman when they were first raised several months ago.
Additional documents, meanwhile, show that ethics board members have expressed misgivings about the timing of the complaints — and the fact that Wiley used a policy she crafted herself to bring those complaints forward.
The situation, which has before now simmered behind the scenes, marks a new kind of controversy for a board that’s still finding its footing after languishing in legal and legislative limbo for nearly three years. It could also raise questions about the stability — and credibility — of an entity charged with investigating potential ethical violations by county employees and politicians.
“How can this Board stand in judgment of other public officials and employees who violate policy and law, when its own members engage in similar misconduct?” Wiley wrote in one of the complaints.
Wiley, who is Black, first formally alleged discrimination by Kalberman, her white supervisor, last fall, according to emails and other documents obtained via the Georgia Open Records Act.
Wiley detailed her complaints in a September Zoom call with Lonnie Edwards and David Moskowitz, who at the time served as the ethics board’s chairman and vice chairman, respectively. She followed up with a written statement a few weeks later.
That three-page statement accuses Kalberman of failing to respond appropriately to racist or insensitive comments made by other people in Wiley’s presence, as well as making statements of her own that Wiley felt were “deeply rooted in negative stereotypes about Black people.”
Wiley also said Kalberman failed to act when a white subordinate subjected her to “a constant stream of slights, indignities and outright disrespect.”
The issues started shortly after Wiley was hired in 2017, she wrote.
“Efforts to address all manner of bias concerns with Ms. Kalberman directly during this time often resulted in her displaying ire towards me; being openly dismissive of my concerns; or simply ignoring my concerns altogether,” Wiley wrote.
Kalberman was DeKalb’s first-ever ethics officer and a sometimes controversial figure who, justifiably or not, was an animating force in state legislator’s previous attempts to reshape how DeKalb handles ethics oversight. She left the position for another job on Feb. 18.
Reached Monday morning, Kalberman said her departure from the ethics office had “absolutely nothing” to do with Wiley’s complaint. The AJC previously reported that her six-year term as ethics officer would end in March and, by law, she could not be reappointed.
Kalberman otherwise declined to comment but said she stood by the formal response she submitted last fall, which called Wiley’s allegations “hurtful” and without merit.
“I deny all allegations of racial bias towards Black people in general and specifically towards Ms. Wiley,” Kalberman wrote at the time. “Ms. Wiley’s allegations are wholly inconsistent with who I am personally and as a leader of the Ethics Office.”
Wiley — who was recently placed on paid administrative leave pending “a fact-finding investigation conducted by outside counsel” — declined this week to comment on her grievances.
But in the months since she lodged her initial complaint, the situation has only escalated.
On Feb. 10, Wiley submitted a new “notice of abuse of power and retaliation” to the ethics board.
It outlined some of the complaints in her previous statement while also accusing Kalberman of shutting her out of meetings. It asks the board to investigate if Kalberman, Edwards and Moskowitz conspired to retaliate against her and stall a probe into her allegations.
Under the ethics office’s personnel rules and standards of conduct — which were drafted by Wiley herself and approved by the board just a month before she filed her initial complaint — allegations of discrimination against the ethics officer are to be submitted to the board chair and vice chair.
The code says they are then required to forward the complaints to the county’s human resources director for an investigation.
When Edwards received her initial complaint, Wiley wrote, he suggested an informal mediation session with Kalberman instead. Wiley reportedly declined that offer, saying she would prefer it be handled by HR.
Months passed.
A few days before she submitted her new complaint, Wiley reportedly told Edwards that she wanted to address the full ethics board during an upcoming meeting. Edwards denied that request and, in a lengthy phone call, said he “knew nothing about his obligation to forward my complaint to HR,” Wiley wrote.
Edwards allegedly said he “was through with” the matter after Wiley expressed concerns about his desire to handle it internally.
Edwards, a former teacher and administrator with DeKalb County schools, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Edwards is also no longer the chairman of the ethics board. He resigned April 7, saying in a letter that personal matters were “requiring more of my time, and as a result, limiting the time I have available to dedicate to effectively serve on the Board of Ethics.”
The departure came three days after DeKalb County attorney Viviane Ernstes wrote a letter to the ethics board recommending that they hire an outside attorney to complete the investigation into Wiley’s complaints.
While the board’s policy does say complaints against the ethics officer should be forwarded to DeKalb HR, the ethics office is separate and independent from the larger county government and thus not legally under that department’s purview.
Ernstes’ recommendation tracked with concerns the ethics board expressed when it finally forwarded Wiley’s complaint to HR in March.
A letter signed by board secretary Candace Rodgers suggested an outside attorney handle the case and raised questions about conflict of interest. It also said the fact that Wiley did not propose the discrimination policy “until approximately one month before she initiated her own complaint can be viewed in a light that would tend to favor Ms. Wiley’s self-interests.”
At the same time, the ethics board said in a group statement provided to the AJC that its April 19 decision to place Wiley on paid leave should not be considered punitive and did not “reflect in any way on the potential merits” of her complaints.
“The DeKalb County Board of Ethics is committed to ensuring a fulfilling and respectful experience for all who work with the organization,” the statement said. “Since learning of Ms. Wiley’s accusations, the members of the DeKalb County Board of Ethics have initiated an investigation and remain resolute and focused on doing what is in the best interest of the organization and all who contribute to it and the citizens of DeKalb County.”
TIMELINE:
NOV. 2015: DeKalb voters approve a referendum that takes the power to appoint ethics board members away from the county CEO and commissioners and gives it to several private organizations.
JAN. 2017: Former county commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton files a lawsuit arguing that giving appointment powers to private organizations is unconstitutional. Ethics board operations are suspended.
AUG. 2018: The Georgia Supreme Court rules in favor of Barnes Sutton. With the legitimacy of more than half of its members in question, the ethics board remains unable to meet.
NOV. 2019: DeKalb voters shoot down a controversial referendum to reconfigure the ethics board and the larger ethics office. Critics said the changes proposed would have actually hindered oversight.
NOV. 2020: DeKalb voters overwhelmingly approve a new referendum that gives ethics board appointment powers to the county’s state House and Senate delegations, as well as its tax commissioner.
JAN. 2021: Appointments to the new ethics board are finalized.
FEB. 2021: The new ethics board holds its first meeting.
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