All in the family, investigation shows glimmer of Atlanta path

What a world, indeed.

In her report, Inspector General Shannon Manigault found that the daughter of Atlanta Human Resources Commissioner Tarlesha Smith needed a job but there was none available, so Smith created one.

The report says that officials at the law firm where the daughter was to be placed were not happy with the process. But no one wants to upset the human resources manager. She is a powerful person and could make work life unpleasant.

It turned out that the daughter wasn’t necessarily bad at learning her job, but the report said she was uncooperative and disrespectful to her boss and was absent after being told she couldn’t work from home. The supervisor wanted to fire her.

Was Smith upset because her daughter was apparently not up to the task? No. Instead, the report states, “the daughter was not fired; rather, DHR opened an investigation into the supervisor.”

Smith, who I was told was a competent administrator, was allegedly overheard telling Deputy Commissioner Candace Kollas, “You need to come and find out why they keep (harassing) my child!”

The investigation ultimately recommended that the daughter’s supervisor be fired.

Photo credit: Atlanta City TV

Photo credit: Atlanta City TV

One manager told another, “People at the commissioner level expect their family to be treated differently.”

After the inspector general’s report was released, Smith was placed on leave while the city conducts another investigation. It’s like an episode of “The Office” if Quentin Tarantino had directed it.

The Inspector General put it succinctly: “The typical job seeker does not have the luxury of having a mother as a DHR officer, allowing him to pick and choose any job he wants. … The DHR officer’s actions contribute to an unlevel playing field and reinforce the notion that one needs ‘friends and family’ to be successful.”

Ah, the old “friends and family” system of nepotism has been discussed for years, not only in Atlanta but in many other places. I remember it being brought up in a report about the schools in DeKalb.

There’s nothing wrong with that in itself, I guess. I had uncles who were union carpenters and helped my brother and some cousins ​​get into the trade. Whenever they worked for them, my uncles treated them more harshly than other carpenters and made them work harder. They showed them no mercy.

To see how far the family connections extended, I combed through Atlanta’s ethics disclosure forms to find out who has or had relatives working for the city. They are filled out by elected officials, board members and certain city managers.

I found that three city judges, at least four city commissioners or directors, two council members, and Mayor Andre Dickens have relatives who have worked or currently work for the city.

Dickens said his daughter was a straight-A student and had a part-time job in the Parks and Recreation Department for a few summers, “just like 5,000 other teenagers.”

Six of the 10 or so department heads and managers mentioned in the inspector general’s report have or had family members who worked in the city.

Kollas, the assistant human resources director tasked with investigating the supervisor who called for Smith’s daughter to be fired, has two children of her own who work for the city, one on the police force and the other in “management positions,” the documents say. She did not return a call seeking comment.

Councilwoman Andrea Boone has the “spouse of a parent, sibling or child” who works in the watershed department, according to the filing. She has not contacted me to discuss this.

All reports point out that the complainants were not supervisors of their relatives.

Photo credit: Ben Hendren

Photo credit: Ben Hendren

Longtime city councilman Michael Bond, who formerly worked as a prison guard, has a child who works in “executive offices” and a sister in Parks & Rec.

Bond said Atlanta is one of Georgia’s largest employers, so it’s natural that many Atlanta residents, including relatives of city officials, find work there. He was once criticized for wanting to vote on an issue related to the city jail when his brother worked there.

“The relatives I have chose to work for the city,” said Bond. His father, civil rights activist Julian Bond, stressed that you should “just go to work and not expect any favors. You are no better than anyone else. You should just do your job.”

“You have no influence on whether your sister or niece applies for a job and gets one.”

Former Mayor Andrew Young said government jobs enabled several generations of black Atlantans to advance into middle-class life. He told me his wife’s nephew works in the water utility industry.

“He started at the bottom and worked his way up,” Young said. “Every time there’s a storm, he has to work all night.”

“It’s inevitable that there will be relatives,” he said, adding: “If they’re dawdling at work because they’re somebody’s relatives, then we should get rid of them.”

My uncles would agree to that.