Revelations mar legacy

Secrets and spending draw new scrutiny of Kasim Reed’s leadership

Drinks flowed from an open bar at American Cut restaurant as 40 invited cabinet officials nibbled on appetizers of chili lobster roll and tuna tataki, while standing in line to have photos taken with the evening’s man of honor — their boss, Mayor Kasim Reed.

A five-course dinner with French wine and champagne toasts built to the evening’s finale: presentation to Reed of a $17,000 watch, with names etched into the box of each person who contributed at least $600 to buy it.

The December 2017 dinner at one of Atlanta’s finest steakhouses was a lavish going-away party to honor Atlanta’s 59th mayor.

There was much to celebrate. Atlanta was bursting with new development and businesses. The rainy-day fund had swelled to $200 million, and the city enjoyed its best credit rating in a generation.

Mohammed Kasim Reed, whose boyhood dream was to lead the city of Atlanta, was leaving office as

one of the nation’s most accomplished mayors — a Democrat with a national profile, who had cultivated relationships within the Obama administration for seven years.

A different outcome in the 2016 presidential election might have landed him a post in Hillary Clinton’s cabinet.

Not even a federal corruption investigation tempered Reed’s belief in his accomplishments. A few months earlier, he had boasted to an Atlanta Press Club audience that he could trounce any of the 10 major 2017 mayoral candidates if he were allowed to seek a third term.

“Not one of them could beat me,” Reed said.

Now, just a year removed from the celebratory dinner, Reed’s legacy has been fundamentally revised.

Extravagant spending on staff, friends and himself has marred Reed’s claim of strong fiscal management. His most important responsibility as steward of the public’s money and trust is under scrutiny, criticism — and investigation.

The party at American Cut epitomized the excess. Taxpayers covered two-thirds of a $12,500 tab, with the swipe of a credit card from Reed’s top lieutenant — Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard. Taxpayers spent another $2,300 on personalized leather portfolios, which were given to each guest that night.

Details of the event were revealed in credit card statements and became one of dozens of stories published in 2018 by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News, after a complaint to the state Attorney General helped unlock city records Reed had carefully controlled.

The news organizations revealed how Reed and some in his inner circle ignored state law that prohibits using tax dollars to buy gifts or personal items; how Reed approved uncon- stitutional bonuses to favored employees during his last month in office; how he gave away taxpayer money in lip sync and ugly sweater contests. And the former mayor routinely used a city credit card for five-star travel and dining, as did members of his staff.

AJC stories also raised questions about runaway spending in Reed’s law department, and showed the mayor often paid exorbitant hourly rates to close associates for legal consultation.

The city hired the mayor’s friends and former law partners for representation in the federal corruption investigation. Two of Reed’s close associates performed legal work defending airport contract awards in which they had personal financial interests. And his law department approved millions in spending based on invoices that did not document the cases being worked on, the attorneys providing the service, or the number of hours billed.

Other revelations obliterated Reed’s claim of being Atlanta’s most transparent mayor. Text messages showed Reed’s top communications officers scheming to frustrate release of public records. Flouting one request, Reed withheld a subpoena that showed the federal investigation was looking at his administration’s handling of airport contracts.

Perhaps most shocking: Reed’s law department paid outside lawyers to negotiate a secret legal settlement with Miguel Southwell, the airport general manager Reed fired in 2016 and who accused the mayor of illegally steering airport contracts to favored companies.

The true scope of the settlement was hidden from the public and City Council, which was never told of a $147,000 payment to Southwell from undisclosed sources. And there was deception in the public portion of the settlement, when city council approved a $65,000 payment for “job placement” that actually went to Southwell’s attorney.

The disclosures showed how Reed was able to shape the posi- tive narrative about his administration by using public resources to hide sensitive political problems.

Two new investigations of the Reed administration were launched as a result of AJC and Channel 2 reporting. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation probed alleged open records violations, and the Federal Aviation Administration opened an inquiry into potentially improper use of airport revenues to pay outside lawyers.

While the epilogue toReed’s legacy is still being written, the federal corruption investigation moved ever closer to Reed and his inner circle in 2018. Subpoenas sometimes followed news stories, and sought documents on spending and travel by Reed and top cabinet officials.

As the year draws to a close, the man who was once one of the highest profile mayors in the country has all but disappeared from public view. Reed was a no-show at the state Democratic Party convention, and endorsed no one for office in a year that Stacey Abrams nearly made history in her campaign to become the country’s first black female governor.

Andthe sharp-tongued politico who relished sparring with the media now does so only through a spokesman.

Reed declined to be interviewed for this story, as he did for nearly every other over the past year. But in numerous statements the former mayor brushed aside questions about his administration’s conduct by repeatedly citing the city’s growth and positive balance sheet under his leadership.

“Atlantans benefited from eight consecutive balanced budgets, zero property tax increases, zero water rate increases, nine consecutive credit-rating increases, more than $200 million incash reserves and a 37 percent reduction in crime,” said one such statement ,issued through Reed’s personal spokesman.

All of the disclosures about Reed over the last year amount to a stunning fall from grace, said Richard Hyde, chief investigator for the law firm Balch & Bingham who worked in a similar capacity for two attorneys general and the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission.

“Kasim Reed’s downfall is a real tragedy because he has such a great future as a leader in our state and in our nation,” Hyde said. “But this is how he’ll be remembered, regardless of whether he gets indicted or not. He’ll be remembered as the bonus mayor. He’ll be remembered as the credit card mayor. And that’s a real shame.”

Kasim Reed’s downfall is a real tragedy because he has such a great future as a leader in our state and in our nation. — RICHARD HYDE chief investigator for the law firm Balch & Bingham

AMERICAN CUT Mayor Kasim Reed’s cabinet held a private dinner for 40 at American Cut in Buckhead on Dec. 18, 2017. Taxpayers picked up two-thirds of a $12.500 tab. Taxpayers spent another $2,300 on personalized leather portfolios, which were given to each guest that night.