City Hall auditor says process to prevent conflicts of interest could use a tune-up

Photo credit:

But according to a report by City Auditor Leslie Ward, some of these disclosures omitted key information. In an audit delivered last week to the Atlanta City Council, Ward said that the city code is not entirely clear on how the disclosure process is supposed to go, disclosures are not checked for accuracy, and the ambiguity has exposed “the city to risk of non-compliance with disclosure requirements.”

Ward says the audit was requested by Nina Hickson before she left her job as the city’s ethics officer to become general counsel of Atlanta Beltine Inc. to gauge the accuracy and thoroughness of the financial disclosures. In addition to other methods, Ward’s team compiled more than 260 “investigative reports for individuals and businesses” using a “database of public and proprietary records used for locating and researching connections between individuals, businesses, and assets” to conduct the report. They also cross-referenced information with the Georgia Secretary of State’s website. 

They discovered that the Ethics Office reviews the process to identify which employees did not file disclosures, but staff does not review the form’s accuracy unless someone files a complaint. The auditors’ tests of 2014 City Hall disclosures “identified one filer out of the 26 we reviewed who failed to disclose a direct interest in real property.” Ward says her team identified “17 filers out of 60 we reviewed who may have omitted other sources of income.” The auditors “identified no undisclosed familial transactions with the city from our sample of 26 filers, which included elected officials and employees who report directly to the mayor.” 

In addition, Ward says in her report, the Ethics Office uses a manual process to classify which employees should be filing disclosures. The audit revealed that this process mistakenly overlooked several employees that were missing financial disclosures.

The audit recommends the Office of Ethics ask City Council to amend the current city code and clarify which employees are required to file disclosures. In addition, there should be a thorough review of filed disclosures to check for complete accuracy. Ward also recommended the Ethics Officer review the 17 filers who might have omitted other sources of income, and who were not named in the audit, be reviewed.

In its reply to the recommendations, the Ethics Office said it has proposed creating an ethics analyst position and an improved e-file system, which would help review disclosures for any errors. Some of those changes were to be funded with additional cash in the next budget, which was approved last week. On the topic of the 17 filers, the office said it would review their disclosures and “determine whether further investigation is warranted and feasible in light of the offices priorities, limited resources and the assessment of the risks involved.”

Acting Ethics Officer Jabu Sengova was not immediately available for comment.