Atlanta’s top watchdog, Inspector General Shannon Manigault, announced Monday she will resign from the role after a bitter feud with Mayor Andre Dickens’ administration over the office’s authority.
Manigault said she and her staff have faced “threats, bullying, intimidation and harassment at the hands of people who have been the subjects of our investigations.”
“However much the people of the city of Atlanta want us to be here and want us to be doing our job, city leadership has made it crystal clear for them a real, functioning, effective Office of Inspector General is not welcome in Atlanta,” Manigault said Monday when she announced her resignation on the steps of City Hall.
Last May, Manigault gave an unprecedented speech during public comment at an Atlanta City Council meeting where she described a “concerted effort” to block misconduct investigations internally by city officials.
Since then, Manigault and the mayor’s office have been locked in fierce battle where accusations have punctuated the debate. And legislation — spearheaded by the mayor’s office and expected to be passed by City Council today — would tamp down on the office’s independence and power.
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
“Pure and simple: it’s retaliation,” Manigault said. “The attacks have been systematic, sustained and savage. As we have uncovered more corruption, once again, at the highest rungs of City Hall, the attacks have gotten worse.”
After her announcement, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office thanked Manigault for her service to the city.
“We look forward to working with a new Inspector General and independent Board in the near future,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. “Ethical government has been one of the Mayor’s four pillars since day one.”
“The City will continue advancing policies and practices that reinforce public trust and protect taxpayer resources, while also ensuring all oversight efforts respect the rights of our employees and are conducted with fairness, transparency and accordance to the law,” a spokesperson said.
The first-term mayor has rarely weighed in on his administration’s back-and-forth with the watchdog office. During his only public remarks on the issue in November, Dickens called the debate “political spectacle.”
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
The watchdog office was created in the wake of the 2017 federal investigations that shook City Hall and led to a number of criminal charges against former officials. Since, Manigault’s office has released reports that allege abuses of power by a commissioner, questionable city contracts with well-connected lobbyists, a bribery scheme in the city department of planning and unfair advantages given to vendors during the bidding process.
At the same time, the Dickens administration launched an effort to overhaul the policies and procedures of the investigatory office.
Legislative changes offered by the mayor’s office would have given the mayor power to appoint members of the inspector general’s governing board and remove her ability to investigate illegal activity, among a lengthy list of other revisions.
Atlanta City Council members opted to walk back a number of controversial changes proposed in the initial legislation, but still backed legislation that establishes “guardrails” during investigations. The proposal passed Monday evening in a 14 to 1 vote.
“The legislation that everyone’s been talking about … is going to destroy the office,” Manigault said. “I’m not going to mince words about that.”
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
During her resignation announcement, the city’s top watchdog described an “unrelenting effort” inside City Hall to weaken the office’s power while at the same time smearing Manigault’s professional reputation. She said she ultimately decided to resign after opponents began questioning her husband’s business connections.
Manigault also faces at least two lawsuits, one filed earlier this month that accuses her of constitutional violations when issuing third-party subpoenas.
Atlanta City Attorney Patrise Hooker-Perkins sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Office of the Inspector General, alleging the government watchdog has violated state law at least 50 times while issuing subpoenas during investigations.
Perkins-Hooker said Manigault has been breaking a state law that requires notification to individuals by their banks when financial records are subpoenaed as part of criminal or tax investigations.
The inspector general’s office hired James Radford, a independent attorney, to represent Manigault in the legal challenges. Radford said the city attorney, along with other elected officials, have engaged in a “media campaign” attacking the office with what he called misleading information.
“As any good investigator will tell you when you are looking at potential fraud, waste and abuse, the very first thing that you do is follow the money,” Radford said. “And they have done that and that has put them in the cross hairs of certain members of city leadership.”
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
The inspector general’s governing board has also been caught in the middle of debate and, as of last week, three members resigned including the chair, Nichola Hines.
“Let’s be clear, this is not about one piece of legislation, this is a pattern of behavior,” Hines said Monday. “This administration is blinded by ego, so focused on immediate political satisfaction that they are failing to consider the long-term consequences of their actions.”
But not all board members agreed with the inspector general’s practices. In an email obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, board member Todd Gray criticized the watchdog’s methods.
“This has gone too far,” he said. “The most recent allegations show the IG has potentially turned into a rogue prosecutor with a serious axe to grind.”
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
