City OKs watchdog agency overhaul, as Atlanta’s inspector general resigns
Atlanta Inspector General Shannon Manigault resigned on Monday morning at a press conference on the steps of City Hall, citing attacks from Mayor Andre Dickens’ administration on her office, herself personally, and her family. Here’s our full report.
Hours later, the Atlanta City Council voted 14-1 for a contentious bill overhauling the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which Manigault and her supporters say will sharply curtail the watchdog agency’s investigative independence and powers. The legislation was immediately sent to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens for his signature.
The public comment period got heated before the council vote. “This is not a policy discussion, this is political theater,” said Rohit Malhotra of the Center for Civic Innovation. Former City Council President Felicia Moore accused the mayor’s office of “gaslighting” the public. “The public’s not fooled,” Moore said, “They’re asking what she [Manigault] has found.”
👀 Inspector general’s message to Atlantans
Manigault’s parting message to Atlantans was: The future of city government oversight is in your hands. “OIG has open, active investigations — serious investigations — that after today, because of the proposed legislation, we may not be able to pursue — which means that ultimately, the fate of the office now rests in your hands, the hands of the public,” the departing inspector general said at her press conference.
Manigault subsequently did a one-hour interview with Rose Scott’s Closer Look on WABE. She declined to share details of any pending OIG investigations – but she did reveal that she was locked out of her city email account on Monday before she could submit her official resignation letter.
Three OIG board members also resigned over the weekend in protest of the OIG overhaul bill: board chair Nichola Hines, Terri Simmons, and Cecily Welch. Board members Lisa Liang and Natalie Lewis had already resigned in December and January. This leaves the nine-member board without a quorum.
What does the OIG overhaul do?
The new legislation dissolves the joint citizen governing board that oversees both the OIG and Ethics Office, replacing it with separate boards for each. Both the OIG and Ethics Office backed that change.
But it also removes the OIG’s immediate, unfettered access to city records for investigations. Instead, the OIG must follow a process that requires prior approvals and advance notice to investigative subjects. It also places strict limits on the OIG’s ability to issue third-party subpoenas to banks for individuals’ financial records. Critics say these changes will slow down investigations and compromise their integrity.
The new legislation also specifies that all OIG interviews of city employees or other individuals are considered compelled, not voluntary. The OIG opposed the change because compelled interviews can’t be used in a criminal prosecution – and it deprives city employees of the ability to give voluntary interviews to aid investigations.
Now, the OIG is also prohibited from using “covert surveillance technology” to investigate wrongdoing.
Council votes to raise members’ pay
The city council also voted by 13-2 to raise salaries for the 15 council members, the council president, and the mayor. Councilmembers Michael Julian Bond and Andrea Boone voted no.
Atlantans protest mass federal firings for President’s Day
A few blocks from City Hall at the state Capitol, several hundred demonstrators took advantage of the federal holiday for a national President’s Day protest against mass-firings of federal employees. President Donald Trump has decreed across-the-board layoffs of all new federal hires still in their one-year probationary period, with input from billionaire “special government employee” Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency).
Among the demonstrators was newly laid-off CDC employee Ryan S., whose last name we are withholding because he is hoping to return to work, pending legal challenges. “I would much rather be at work. I worked really hard to get that job,” he said, noting that the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control hired him just two months ago, after a hiring process that took almost eight months.
Ryan S. was among nearly 1,300 CDC employees terminated last week.
ICYMI: Atlanta Civic Circle reported last week on the impacts of data from the CDC and other federal agencies going dark.
And don’t forget Arbor Day
The Atlanta City Council did not make much ado about Presidents’ Day on Monday, but it did issue a proclamation in honor of Arbor Day, observed every Feb. 21. After all, Atlanta is known as the city in the forest.
In fact, the Arbor Day Foundation has recognized Atlanta for almost 40 years as a Tree City USA. “A city that takes care of its trees takes care of its people,” says the Arbor Day Foundation.
Today’s newsletter was written by Alessandro Marazzi Sasson and edited by Meredith Hobbs.
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