The new head of Atlanta’s procurement department is the subject of an internal investigation for an alleged inappropriate relationship with his executive assistant, who operates a sexually oriented side business.
A sexual relationship, consensual or not, between a supervisor and subordinate would be considered sexual harassment under the city’s code.
Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. David L. Wilson II was named the city’s chief procurement officer in June 2018 and was tasked with reforming a department that oversees hundreds of millions of dollars in city contract awards.
The city's procurement department has become a focus of the multiyear federal investigation of City Hall corruption. The department's previous chief, Adam Smith, was sentenced to a 27-month prison sentence after pleading guilty in January 2018 to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
A spokesman for Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms declined to identify the date when its internal investigation into Wilson and his assistant, Nicole R. Goode, began.
Goode told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she has never had a sexual or romantic relationship with Wilson. She said she had never been disciplined, and that during the internal investigation, she has been asked biased and sexist questions and has been unable to obtain records from the city about the investigation.
Officials confirmed the internal probe when they declined to provide documents in response to a request seeking records related to a sexual harassment complaint against Wilson; a potential inappropriate relationship between Wilson and Goode; and complaints or investigations involving Goode or her website.
“The only documents which were responsive to your request were contained in an ongoing investigation; and thus, were exempt from disclosure,” the city’s law department wrote in response to the November request.
Goode appears to operate the website nikkigspot.com, which greets visitors with “Come Inside and Let Me Blow Your Mind.”
The site allows customers to book tantric consultations in 30-minute increments — costing $100 for a 30-minute individual session, and up to $550 for a 90-minute couples session.
“Our mission at Nikki G’s Spot is to provide the education and tools necessary in order for individuals and couples to create a whole orgasmic sexual experience that is intensely spiritual, physically erotic, mentally elevated, emotionally connected, sensual, passionate and most pleasurable,” the website says.
Goode said the purpose of her business was to rebuild relationships and enhance the spirituality and sacredness of sexuality.
A city spokesman said Wilson and Goode declined to comment, after the AJC reached out to them through a phone message, a contact form on Goode’s website and a visit to the procurement office.
But Goode told the AJC that the spokesman, Michael Smith, never contacted her to allow her to give her side of the story.
Previous complaint investigated
Before arriving at the city, Wilson was stationed at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force Base, where he served as the deputy division chief for the Installation Contracting Division.
"As we continue to ensure transparency and fairness in our business operations, I am proud that someone of Wilson's caliber will join our Administration," Bottoms said in a statement announcing the hire.
The ongoing internal investigation isn’t the first into Wilson and Goode.
Shortly after Wilson arrived at the city, the Human Resources Department investigated complaints that Goode had violated the city’s dress code, and that Goode and Wilson drank alcohol together at a department holiday party in December 2018 and then returned to work.
The investigation concluded that the pair had arrived at the holiday party together and that Goode had a glass of wine before coming back to City Hall, but that Wilson had only drunk lemonade or a non-alcoholic Arnold Palmer cocktail.
The investigation also noted that Wilson recalled instructing Goode to dress in a manner “befitting an executive assistant; specifically, in (not) wearing animal prints.”
The HR Department report said Goode was reprimanded for drinking on the job, a violation of city code. It also recommended that the entire Procurement Department receive training on appropriate work attire.
Goode told the AJC that she was never reprimanded and that her clothing has never been addressed. She only returned to the office after the holiday party to retrieve her personal items and left immediately, she said.
Job performance questioned
Wilson’s job performance was called into question last fall.
Members of the City Council's Transportation Committee in October criticized him for a confusing and unorganized presentation on airport solicitations — a significant source of controversy and a core target of the federal inquiry.
Councilwoman Carla Smith asked Wilson to remain at the meeting to watch another department head’s presentation so he could learn from it.
“Today I couldn’t even figure out a question to ask because I couldn’t figure out what your presentation was,” Smith said. “You need to do better.”
The city’s Law Department has previously concluded that sexual relationships between supervisors and subordinates violate the city’s sexual harassment policy. In 2018, the Law Department recommended that the former head of constituent services, Mark Henderson, be terminated after he admitted to having sex with one of his employees.
Officials in Bottoms’ administration initially tried to find Henderson another job, but he eventually left the city. Henderson worked on Bottoms’ 2017 mayoral campaign.
Judith Richards, the employee who filed the sexual harassment complaint against Henderson, was also terminated for allegedly providing false information on a criminal background check report.
A Georgia Department of Labor appeals tribunal ruled last year that Richards had done no such thing.
The circumstances surrounding Richards' termination are now the subject of one of two sexual harassment lawsuits filed against the city in federal court this past fall.
Both suits accused the city of failing to protect women from their bosses’ sexual advances, despite multiple instances of inappropriate behavior.
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