City Council Briefs: Credit card restrictions; compliance office created; new appointments

Users of city-issued credit cards must abide by a list of acceptable and non-acceptable terms of usage after the Atlanta City Council approved new regulations on Tuesday. Ordinance 19-O-1004, sponsored by Councilmembers Andre Dickens and J.P. Matzigkeit, now codifies those terms in the city code. It was approved unanimously. Violating the new guidelines may result in disciplinary action including but not limited to felony criminal prosecution. Purchases and uses not prohibited include goods and services not directly related to city business; data plans and software for non-city issued smartphones, laptops or tablets; memberships at wholesale warehouse and shopping clubs; cash advances; gift and calling cards; personal dry-cleaning charges, entertainment such as in-room movies; alcoholic beverages; tobacco products, fuel or repairs for personal vehicles; airline tickets for friends and family and any other personal use.

The Public Confidence & Accountability Legislation, authored by Council President Felicia Moore and sponsored by Councilmembers Jennifer Ide, Matt Westmoreland, J.P. Matzigkeit, Amir Farokhi, Dustin Hillis, Andre Dickens, Howard Shook and Natalyn Archibong will create the City of Atlanta’s first- ever Office of Independent Compliance. According to Moore, “The public has entrusted the City Council with the responsibility of ensuring the City of Atlanta, its employees, and vendors conduct business in a manner which is honest, transparent, lawful and in the best interests of its residents. Through the effective exercise of our legislative powers, we can and should strengthen the City’s code, along with its practical application. The Office of Independent Compliance will address accountability from the trajectories of both adherence and enforcement.”

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has announced two high-level appointments for the City of Atlanta, and the corresponding transition of former Chief Equity Officer Rashad Taylor to her executive staff as Senior Advisor. William L. Hawthorne, III, Esq. has been named Chief Equity Officer and Fatimot Ladipo has been named Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. As Chief Equity Officer, Hawthorne will oversee the team responsible for realizing the mayor’s vision for an inclusive Atlanta by defining and operationalizing equity through city. As Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Ladipo will oversee the city’s state and federal government affairs team along with the city’s legislative team, which represents the administration before the city council.