Unethical Management of Watershed Funds

We as City of Atlanta employees have stood by to long being unheard and having our concerns swept under the rug, now it is time we stand up and be heard.  We have created an on-line petition requesting for Governor Sonny Perdue and the Attorney General%u2019s Office to step in an investigate our concerns of all the illegal/unethical activity within the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management.

If you agree please go to our online petition and sign your name.  Please be assured that your name and e-mail address WILL BE kept confidential, but the number of users that sign the petition will be public.  We will send this petition to The Atlanta City Council, The Governor%u2019s Office and the Attorney General%u2019s Office.

We have to stop the wasteful spending within the City of Atlanta and especially The Department of Watershed Management.  For example:

Deputy Commissioner Sally Mills, Tracy Hillick and Susan Rutherford attend several out of town seminars with tax payer funds, even though we are in a budget crisis.  Yes crisis, if we are $50 million dollars in the red we consider that a crisis.  What are the chances the debt is larger than we are being informed from Watershed Commissioner Rob Hunter. 

Deputy Commissioner George Barnes, how many contracts were approved by city council for one amount but the invoice was for a different amount.  If the bid is one price how is the PO closed at a higher value.  Was the ECMS million dollar contract really needed or was it also a waste of tax payer funds?  Deputy Commissioner George Barnes how many minority complaints have to be filed against you with the OCC (Office of Contract Compliance) before some changes are implemented.  Deputy Commissioner George Barnes why on certain invoices the Scope of Service in the contract is not matching what is on the invoice?

Deputy Commissioner Shelia Pierce are the newsletters that are issued to all Department of Watershed employees at a cost of $*** with the company ******** really needed.  Think about it, we all have e-mail and access to the intranet, couldn't any announcements be posted on the intranet or e-mailed to us.  Fyi...No one reads the newsletters.  But isn't that one of the objectives of the Communications area.  Isn't that why all the ink is purchased monthly in bulk, but can't be accounted for.  Isn't that what Joya L. Walker (Graphics Arts Specialist, Sr.) position is for.  Why pay an employee for a job that you are getting vendors to do?  These types of things can be done in house and money can be saved. 

Lastly, Deputy Commissioner Samuel Goodson, we hear that you are planning on taking some sick time and then returning to retire.  Why not retire and saved the Department some money so that we won't have to pay your salary (while you are not here) and pay another employee a six figure salary also to do your job.  Just a thought.

Just to be fair, we would like to make a correction, employees keep asking us to make a correction on an incorrect name that we posted.  In a previous e-mail we stated "Mark Mason, Watershed Manager Sr., we wanted to know if we could enroll in your class.  From what Debra says you were a good professor when she was doing her on-line course to receive her degree.  We know she was a good student of your especially to give you a job coming in the city as a Watershed Manager Sr. isn't that a pay grade of 30 or 32.  She must have really got a good GPA.  That's better than bringing a teacher an apple.  Just give them a position in Customer Service making a good salary."  However the actual employees name is Marc Anthony Cooper in Watershed Customer Service not Mark Mason.

To all City Council Members we are asking that you please request an audit/inquiry into our concerns.  City Council members please understand that we are turning to you for your leadership.  We are requesting for all City Council members to please take a stand and do the duties that we as citizens elected you for.  We would like to thank Council Member Felecia Moore for her responses and support.  Now we ask for the rest of the City Council to take a stand.

Please do not take this as a threat, but as a PROMISE, we voted you'll in, and if we see that you'll are not working for us, we will make sure when the election and campaigning begins that these items be issues that are addressed and spotlighted that the City Council Members are not working for us or with us.

November 2009 is approaching........Council Member Mary Norwood, Council Member Ceasar Mitchell, State Sen. Kasim Reed [D-Atlanta], Attorney Jesse Spikes, Rufus Terrill and all other 2009 Mayoral candidates please take this time to look inside yourselves and decide if you are going to or even want to work for us.

Update: As always we like to be fair, since we have started sending out our e-mails in regards to wasteful spending within The Department of Watershed Management we have learned that Deputy Commissioner Shelia Pierce has collected ALL of her bureaus city issued cell phones.  Thank you Deputy Commissioner Shelia Pierce for assisting us save tax payer funds.  Please try to get your fellow Deputy Commissioners to collect the unnecessary issued city cell phones and vehicles.  Deputy Commissioner Samuel Goodson can you please collect your devices before you go on sick leave (Tony Clark, Tamika Gray, Tanya James, etc.) ALL of these employees are at their work area which has a land-line at their desk where they sit ALL day.

As always thank you for taking the time to read our letter.

Thanks,

Concerned Atlanta Citizen