Mayor Andre Dickens’ office spent nearly $121,000 for last year’s Senior Ball celebrating Atlanta’s residents 65 and older, but did not follow proper procedure in doing so, according to a new report by the city’s Office of the Inspector General.
The OIG has referred its findings to the City of Atlanta Ethics Office for review of potential violations of the city’s Ethics Code.
The OIG initiated its investigation after discovering a payment dated Feb. 10, 2023, from the City of Atlanta to the Hyatt Regency Atlanta in Downtown for $120,653.48. The bill included instructions to process the payment as a “professional courtesy” for the 2022 Senior Ball, according to a news release.
The Office of the Mayor reported that the “professional courtesy” language was decided by executive offices during a meeting with administrators “to highlight that the procurement process was not followed and to ask that Finance process the request so that the vendor could be paid,” according to the OIG report.
Repeated requests for payments as ‘professional courtesy’
The Senior Ball, an event that dates back to former mayor Bill Campbell’s term, is a formal affair to honor Atlanta’s senior citizens. At the 2022 Senior Ball, the city provided food, entertainment, transportation and giveaways to approximately 3,000 seniors.
The OIG report found “repeated instances of requests from the Executive Offices asking for direct approvals as a ‘professional courtesy’ as part of a pattern of purchases and payments that were not compliant with the city’s procurement and accounting policies.”
“A request from the Office of the Mayor to process noncompliant purchases as a ‘professional courtesy,’ despite any intentions to the contrary, may give the impression that the Office of the Mayor is not subject to the City’s rules and policies,” the OIG report said.
“Such a request may communicate to the employees tasked with processing said payments, and/or other City employees aware of such requests, that the Office of the Mayor is asking (or pressuring) Finance to grant favors that it is not entitled to and that would not be available for other departments,” according to the report.
The report said expenditures for the 2022 Senior Ball prohibited by the City of Atlanta, Accounts Payable, Travel and Hotel Policy, included: City-funded hotel stays for employees, the mayor and members of the mayor’s family.
The Hyatt submitted a $124,566.90 invoice to the city: $117,440.23 for food and beverage; $14,838.40 for audio visual use; $7,230.10 for rooms; and $235 for parking.
The OIG report noted the city received a $10,176.83 tax exemption reduction and the Hyatt’s final invoice also credited the city for a $5,000 deposit.
The Hyatt billed the city for 28 rooms and 40 guests from Oct. 21-23, 2022, the weekend of the Senior Ball, the report said. Some guests ordered room service that was billed to their rooms.
The list of rooms and guests who stayed in them: one room for Mayor Dickens’ mother; one room for the mayor’s sister; one room for the mayor’s chief of staff; one room for the mayor’s then-senior policy-advisor; two rooms (one for each night) for the former Office of Constituent Services (OCS) commissioner; two rooms (one for each night) for a Department of Human Resources director; two rooms (a standard room and suite) for the mayor; two rooms for one night for the mayor’s security detail; three rooms (for one night) for the band that played at the event; and four rooms (two for each night) for a former OCS facilities coordinator who was the main coordinator for the 2022 Senior Ball.
The OIG report said it found at least 11 other instances where invoices were submitted to executive offices within the Office of the Mayor and approved with the statement, “[P]rocurement services were not followed, services were rendered without a purchase order. Please process payment as a professional courtesy.”
The payments, dated from July 2022 through January 2023, ranged in amounts from $263.60 to $5,130.20 to cover expenditures such as food and beverages, decoration services and photo and video services.
“OIG found no other use of the ‘professional courtesy’ language on [accounts payable] disbursement forms prior to 2022 and found no such usage from any other City departments,” the report said.
The Office of the Mayor responded to the OIG report by saying it is committed to compliance with rules and regulations and would ensure to follow proper procedures for the 2023 Senior Ball.
The mayor also said he intended to reimburse the city for hotel room costs for himself and his family, the report said.
Senior Ball an official city function?
Although the Senior Ball started as a tradition under Campbell’s tenure in the mid-1990s, the OIG said in its report there is no ordinance, policy or agreement establishing the Senior Ball as an official city event — which means city funds, labor, and resources are not allowed by policy to support the event.