Atlanta Mayor Bottoms’ credit card use restrained compared to previous mayor

A review of former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ credit card statements found her card use was a fraction of what taxpayers covered under her predecessor, Mayor Kasim Reed.

Bottoms spent a total of $80,000 during her four years as mayor. Reed exceeded that spending in each of his last two years in the mayor’s office, and nearly matched it the year before — $73,618 in 2015; $124,635 in 2016; and $151,175 in 2017, which exceeded his salary of $147,500.

Of her $80,000 in Bottoms credit card use, about 80% occurred during her first two years as mayor.

But there were some missteps along the way.

Taxpayers in 2018 initially covered the cost of a first-class flight to the Super Bowl for Bottoms’ husband, Derek, when former Chief Operating Officer Dan Gordon purchased the ticket, according to a review of Gordon’s credit card statements at the time.

Bottoms repaid the cost of her husband’s flight upon learning that a city-issued credit card had been used. A city spokeswoman at the time said Gordon’s card was mistakenly used without Bottoms’ knowledge.

Bottoms spent more than $15,000 on hotel lodging during her trips during those first two years, records show. She spent $11,651 on more than 27 rides with Carey Executive Limousine, a luxury vehicle service.

A Bottoms spokesman said the luxury car service was used because it was already vetted for safety. Records show she never used her city credit card for car rides after May 2018 — and after use of the service was the subject of another AJC article.

Her smallest category of spending was at restaurants, with just $2,400. About one-fourth of that total was spent at one restaurant, during her trip to Minneapolis for the Super Bowl. The mayor made that trip with staff members because Atlanta was hosting the big game the next year.

Bottoms’ purchases are a far cry from Reed’s spending as mayor from 2010 to 2018.

An AJC probe into Reed’s past three years as mayor found he spent more than $300,000 in tax dollars with his card.

Half of it occurred in 2018, when he spent $61,000 in airfare; $25,000 for hotels; and $10,000 on chauffeured car service.

By May 2018, Reed reimbursed the city more than $50,000 for purchases questioned by the AJC. The AJC and Channel 2 Action News also found members of Reed’s inner circle spent freely with their cards.

Jim Beard, Reed’s chief financial officer, spent thousands of tax dollars on hotels and dining — including a $10,000 hotel tab at the Shangri-La in downtown Paris. Beard repaid the city for that charge after the AJC requested his credit card statements.

Beard also used his card to cover $8,100 of a $12,000 tab at The American Cut restaurant in Buckhead, where the man responsible for watchdogging city finances hosted a 2017 holiday party for Reed’s cabinet that featured a five-course meal including chili lobster rolls, filet mignon, sunchoke spinach and an assortment of desserts.

The AJC also found police officers in Reed’s executive protection unit routinely used their cards to pay for the former mayor’s dry cleaning and fast food.