Eaves to AG Olens: Look into councilwoman’s hiring as rec authority director, please

Keisha Lance Bottoms’ double-duty deserves scrutiny, county chairman says

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Fulton County Chairman John Eaves is asking the state Attorney General’s Office to review Keisha Lance Bottoms’ controversial double-duty service as an Atlanta City Councilmember and executive director of the authority that will oversee the sale of Turner Field.

In a letter issued yesterday, Eaves asks Attorney General Sam Olens to “investigate whether any ethical or legal provisions have been or may be violated by such an appointment.”

Bottoms was appointed executive director of the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority last month in a surprise move that apparently involved no job posting or application. Bottoms, slated to start the job June 1, has said she will remain a City Council member as well. She told CL after the announcement that the thought she could not perform both duties with integrity was “insulting.” The City’s Ethics Office said there is no “per se conflict of interest” in such double-duty.

Eaves is far from convinced that’s the final word. In his letter to Olens, he notes that the Ethics Office opinion also said the situation might warrant a deeper review of all ethical implications.

Eaves also raises another Code of Ethics provision that has not been addressed. That provision prevents officials from representing private interests before government agencies in exchange for pay. And he notes that AFCRA has its own “Standard of Conduct” code that similarly could prevent Bottoms from appearing before City agencies in her role as AFCRA’s chief.

“To the extent that Councilmember Bottoms would be lobbying or seeking funding on behalf of the Authority from the City of Atlanta, her dual roles could present at the very least the appearance of an ethical conflict,” Eaves writes.

We reached out to Olens for comment yesterday and did not hear back. Bottoms was not immediately available for comment. We will update if we hear back. Eaves’s full letter appears below.


Letter from Fulton County Chairman John Eaves to Attorney General Olens regarding appointment of Keisha Lan... by thomaswheatley