A new report released by the inspector general’s office alleges that the mayor and his top officials gave an “unfair advantage” during the procurement process to the company that helps run the city’s customer service and ATL311 call center.
During the 2022 bidding process for a contract to run a customer relationship management system within the City Department of Customer Service, the report says, staff for the company Accenture had conversations with the mayor himself and top officials in his office.
“Accenture made repeated references to its participation in Mayor Andre Dickens’ transition team to gain access to City officials, including the mayor, regarding the CRM project,” the investigation says. “City records show that such access was granted.”
The inspector general’s office also cites an email at the time from the city’s chief procurement officer to the city’s former chief operating office that called out the violation and said that the communications “can be deemed as unfair to other vendors since they were able to obtain information that no other vendors had preview to.”
Atlanta’s procurement chief even recommended that Accenture drop out of the bidding process. But the company was ultimately awarded the contract, regardless.
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
The Dickens administration hit back against Manigault’s findings and called the investigation “misguided and baseless.”
“The claims in the report are derived from a fundamental misunderstanding of the city’s procurement process; a lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of City employees within the rules that govern procurement; and the use of wholly unprofessional and inappropriate methods of conducting an investigation,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.
The city attorney argues that correspondence between city officials and the company took place during a “request for information” period of a bidding process that doesn’t require a blackout between the city and interested vendors.
The Dickens administration also argued that Accenture’s participation on his transition team was specific to a subcommittee and ended before the bidding process began.
The investigation also alleges that the city “falsely asserted that Accenture made good faith efforts to meet the Small Business Enterprise participation goal.”
“The City flouted its own laws, policies, and (Chief Procurement Officer) advice to the benefit of a vendor,” Manigault said in a statement. “Both divisions of OIG will continue to raise red flags to help ensure a level playing field for all prospective City vendors.
The findings are the most recent in a string of investigations by the city’s watchdog office into alleged misconduct during the city’s procurement and permitting processes.
The inspector general also called out questionable relationships between council members and city officials on a park security contract — which was approved by City Council on Monday against her recommendation.
And another investigation released in October found that officials within the department of city planning took bribes to expedite application reviews.
When the mayor addressed the inspector general’s governing board at an emergency meeting last week, he said he had recently taken part in a “voluntary interview” with the inspector general.
Calendars obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed the two met on Oct. 31.
“Every time (Manigault) has ever texted me — I responded. Emailed me — I responded. Called me — I responded,” the mayor said to board members. “Even a voluntary interview — I came to it. It was voluntary.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Dickens’ appearance at the board meeting was the first time he decided to break his silence and address the fight between his office and the city’s watchdog.
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” the first-term mayor said. “There should be checks and balances — (but) no one should play judge, jury (and) execution.”
The mayor and his staff aren’t the only ones pushing back against the inspector general.
Stephen Katz, a lawyer representing a well-connected lobbyist at the center of another investigation, filed an open records lawsuit against Manigault for alleged violations of the Open Records Act.
According to the court filing, Katz claims the watchdog office failed to provide records he requested related to the investigation of company Cloverhurst Strategies run by Bernie Tokarz, and other documents related to complaints and initiation of investigations.
