Does Mayor Andre Dickens have the power to appoint interim watchdog? 

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has appointed an interim Atlanta Inspector General to replace Shannon Manigault, who publicly resigned on City Hall’s steps on Feb. 17 – right before Atlanta City Council passed legislation to sharply curtail her office’s independent investigative powers. 

LaDawn “LBJ” Blackett officially became the city’s interim inspector general, effective March 3. Blackett currently serves as a judge for South Fulton Municipal Court and Dekalb County State Court. She is also a former state representative and has served as the city solicitor for South Fulton. 

Blackett said she will serve only temporarily as the interim inspector general and won’t take the job permanently according to the mayor’s office.

According to Atlanta’s charter, it’s the Office of Inspector General (OIG) governing board that appoints the city’s inspector general, not the mayor. In fact, City Attorney Patrise Perkins-Hooker told Atlanta Civic Circle prior to Manigault’s resignation that the OIG governing board has the power to appoint either a new inspector general or an interim leader.

But the OIG board itself must be reconstituted before it can appoint an inspector general — and that could take time. When Manigault resigned on Feb. 17, six of the nine members of the joint OIG-Ethics Office governing board had already resigned, including four who resigned over the city council’s impending overhaul of the OIG’s powers — which effectively dissolved the board. 

The Feb. 17 city council legislation creates separate governing boards for the OIG and the Ethics Office. To form the new OIG board, specially designated citizen groups must first appoint its seven members. Once the OIG board is in place, it can start the process to hire a permanent inspector general, which is subject to the city council’s approval.

Does the mayor have the power to appoint a temporary inspector general in the interim? Stay tuned for our follow-up story.

Crossover Day is Thursday 

State lawmakers have until Thursday to get bills passed in either the House or Senate, so they can “cross over” to the other chamber. Any bill that doesn’t make it through Crossover Day on March 6 is dead for the current 40-day legislative session— unless a lawmaker works some magic. Bills still in play in either chamber can be reconsidered next year, since this is the first year of a two-year legislative session.

Atlanta Civic Circle is tracking a dozen bills related to labor rights, free speech, civil liberties,and housing, such as House Bill 16, which would require basic workplace protections for workers at distribution warehouses, like Amazon’s.

Check out our full roundup of legislation to watch, which was put together by reporter Claire Becknell, housing reporter Sean Keenan, and yours truly.

President Donald Trump to address Congress tonight

President Donald Trump will deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday – a common practice in a presidency’s first few months since former President Ronald Reagan, according to USA Today. Technically, it’s not a State of the Union address, but it has the trappings of one. 

We’ll be watching, as we continue covering the Trump administration’s impacts locally. Here’s a bit of what we’ve covered so far: 

You can watch the speech at 9 p.m. on major television networks or online at USA Today and PBS. 

ICYMI: Georgians call on Attorney General Chris Carr to drop lawsuit that threatens federal disability rights

A few dozen protesters picketed in front of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office last week, demanding he drop a federal lawsuit that challenges a Biden-era rule to expand disability rights to people with gender dysphoria. But activists fear the lawsuit seeks to do more than roll back trans rights.

That is because the lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of both the Biden rule that classifies gender dysphoria as a disability, and the underlying federal law that defines disability categories: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 

Carr’s office insists that the lawsuit, which Carr signed onto with 16 other Republican state attorneys general, doesn’t try to make Section 504 unconstitutional. However, one of the lawsuit’s demands for relief is for a federal judge to do just that. 

After several lengthy email exchanges with Carr’s office, we asked Chris Timmons, an experienced federal litigator in Atlanta, for his take. “That may not have been what they meant, but it is what they said,” Timmons said. 

Check out our full coverage here.

What we’re reading: Is Atlanta surveilling Cop City activists?

Covert spy cameras affixed to utility poles have appeared outside the homes of several activists opposed to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, nicknamed Cop City by its opponents. Is the Atlanta Police Department behind them? That seems a reasonable conclusion, at least, after reading Atlanta Civic Circle contributor Timothy Pratt’s report for The Guardian. 

The cameras are mounted inside unmarked boxes about 30 feet high on the utility poles, with a clear window for the lens to peer through, Pratt reports. 

Atlanta Police Department spokesperson Chata Spikes initially denied any knowledge of the cameras, telling The Guardian: “I’m not sure which boxes you’re referring to.” But after receiving a follow-up email with a photo, she refused to say whether the APD installed the boxes, citing “possible on-going investigations.”

What do you think of all this? Share your thoughts with me by email.

Today’s newsletter was written by Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon and edited by Meredith Hobbs.

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