Atlanta, OIG continue to spar

Atlanta, city’s Inspector General continue to spar

Amid the holiday festivities, perhaps someone should spike the egg-nog at City Hall, where tensions continue to rise between Mayor Andre Dickens and Inspector General Shannon Manigault. 

In its latest salvo, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an investigative report that alleged the city of Atlanta played favorites in awarding a multimillion dollar contract to run its 311 line’s customer-relationship management system. (The 311 line is for non-emergency calls to request city services.) The City Attorney disputed the findings in a strongly worded response letter that called the OIG’s investigation “flawed and unprofessional.” Read that story here. 

Meanwhile, controversial recommendations from a city task force to curtail the OIG’s power as Atlanta’s independent investigative watchdog, are in limbo until the new year. The Atlanta City Council received the task force’s report on Dec. 2, but took no action. The next full city council meeting is scheduled for Jan. 6.

👀 Look for stories comparing the Atlanta OIG’s powers to those of other big-city OIGs –and to other city watchdogs –in our Thursday newsletter.

📷: Atlanta Inspector General Shannon Manigault speaking at an Atlanta Young Republicans event also attended by Young Democrats of Georgia last month. Credit: Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

City Council’s ban on warming centers near schools threatens to leave homeless out in the cold

When temperatures dropped last week, Atlanta almost left unhoused people out in the cold. Our housing reporter, Sean Keenan, has the story. 

The city opens two main emergency warming centers when temperatures hit 40 degrees — but one of them, at the Old Adamsville Recreation Center on the Westside, almost didn’t open Dec. 11. That was due to a new City Council resolution banning warming centers within 1,000 feet of a school. The Adamsville location neighbors the Frederick Douglass 9th Grade STEAM Academy.

The city council’s move — spurred by discomfort at having unhoused people near schoolchildren — drew sharp criticism from housing advocates, who pointed out that many unhoused children use the emergency warming centers with their families. 

The city ended up opening the Adamsville warming center, but it’s not clear if that will remain a city-operated warming center location – or where else it could go.

ICYMI: Elections are finally over

After the Dec. 3 runoff election, Georgia’s 2024 election season is finally, finally over. Heading into the new year, there are some new names among the dozens of metro-Atlanta elected officials to be sworn in.

Among them is Atlanta’s newest City Council member, Eshé Collins, who won the Post 3 At-Large runoff. Read more here about Collins and other metro-Atlanta runoff winners.

Newcomers to the state legislature include a crop of Gen Zers, such as State Rep. Bryce Berry (D-Atlanta) and State Rep. Gabriel Sanchez (D-Smyrna). Berry will be among the youngest Georgia house members ever, while Sanchez is the state’s first Democratic Socialist elected to the legislature. 

While some young Atlantans are getting elected, others are losing faith in electoral politics altogether. Our own Gen Z reporter Claire Becknell dug into why.

But wait, there’s more — elections, that is. Candidates are already gearing up for next year’s municipal elections, when Atlanta’s mayor, the entire 16-member city council, and four of nine Atlanta Board of Education members will be on the ballot. Stay tuned. 

One other thing: The Atlanta Board of Education (ABOE) is beginning the process to appoint a District 6 member to serve the remainder of Collins’ term. This interim appointment is required as the vacancy occurred within one year of the next general election.

→ For more details, including how to apply, visit the ABOE website here.