Atlanta City Councilwoman Felicia Moore’s request for direct access to the city’s financial records is nothing more than a “naked power grab,” says Mayor Kasim Reed.
In a strongly worded letter sent to Moore this week, Reed argued that giving her “unilateral access” would breach the “separation of governmental powers.”
“I refuse to allow you to drag us down the road of divisive Washington-style politics when this administration has gone out of its way to work cooperatively with the Atlanta City Council,” Reed wrote in the letter. “Your request is nothing more than a naked power grab designed solely to advance your personal political purposes.”
» READ AND COMMENT: Mayor Reed's letter to Councilwoman Felicia Moore (.PDF document)
For months, Moore, Reed’s chief adversary on the council, has requested access to the city’s accounts payable system — records of payments to employees or vendors. Her request is unusual, as councilmembers typically rely on the executive branch to compile and provide data from the city’s departments. But she said she believes it’s necessary after months of receiving incomplete responses to her requests.
Moore, who represents District 9, said on Tuesday that she’s reached out to Reed to discuss the issue. She plans to hold a press conference Wednesday to address the matter, she said.
In September, Chief Operating Officer Michael Geisler cited cyber security concerns in denying Moore the ability to directly view the records and instead offered to provide reports through open records requests.
“If you’re telling me that as (an elected official) I cannot have access to see one thing — and that is what money is going out of the city — then we have a problem,” Moore responded. “…I don’t need the administration to be the gatekeeper. I don’t want them to be the filter. I want to see it myself.”
District 6 Councilman Alex Wan also rejected Geisler’s reasoning, saying there are “technological solutions” to his concerns over cyber security.
“You are losing me on this one, I’ll be honest with you,” he said. “(The request) doesn’t seem unreasonable when it is, as Ms. Moore said, public information.”
Reed and Moore have sparred publicly in recent months over myriad issues. Chief among them: five-figure payouts Reed’s administration granted to certain employees under a little-known hardship program. Atlanta Police Chief George Turner and others were paid tens of thousands of dollars for unused vacation, sick or compensatory time.
Moore has repeatedly said those actions violate city code. Reed has accused her of being unqualified to determine that legality because she is a real estate agent, and not an attorney. He maintains the payouts were legal, but could raise fairness concerns from other employees.
Moore and the mayor’s office also battled earlier this year over information about salary increases, data that Reed’s administration eventually provided.
In the letter to Moore, dated Oct. 15, Reed wrote that his office is guided by the Georgia Open Records Act and “honors every request, regardless of the requesting party.”
In addition to Moore, some councilmembers have criticized the administration as slow to respond to requests for information.
In September, longtime District 7 Councilman Howard Shook said he’s frustrated with attempts to get answers from the mayor’s office, noting: “I cannot remember it being harder to get information than it is now. I don’t know why that is.”
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