The Atlanta City Council Tuesday approved an ordinance that prohibits all spending on city issued credit cards that isn’t directly related to city business.
The ordinance identifies a laundry list of banned purchases: dry cleaning, alcohol and tobacco, plane tickets for family members, cash advances, gift cards, calling cards, memberships at wholesale warehouses, in-room hotel movies and mechanical repairs for personal vehicles.
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Most, if not all, of the items listed were examples of inappropriate purchases under former Mayor Kasim Reed's administration uncovered by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News. The news organizations' reporting also became the subject of subpoenas from federal prosecutors investigating corruption at City Hall.
The ordinance represents the combined efforts of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ administration and council members Andre Dickens and J. P. Matzigkeit, who sponsored the legislation.
“In keeping with our Administration’s commitment to building an ethical, transparent and fiscally responsible government, we have taken yet another significant stride towards sound stewardship of public dollars,” Bottoms said in a statement.
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