In the family, the investigation shows an Atlanta-style reflection

What kind of world, indeed.

In her report, Inspector General Shannon Manigault found that Atlanta Human Resources Commissioner Tarlesha Smith’s daughter needed a job and there weren’t any, so Smith had a position.

The report said officials at the prosecutor’s office, where the girl was to be placed, were unhappy with the process. But no one wants to anger the human resources commissioner. She is a powerful person and could make work life uncomfortable.

It turns out the girl wasn’t necessarily bad at learning the job, but the report says she was uncooperative and disrespectful to her boss and began missing work after she was told she couldn’t work from home. The supervisor wanted to fire her.

Was Smith upset that her daughter apparently wasn’t up to par? Instead, according to the report, “the girl was not fired; instead, DHR opened an investigation into the supervisor.

Smith, who I was told was a competent administrator, was allegedly heard telling Deputy Commissioner Candace Kollas, “I need you to check and see why they keep (playing) with my child!”

Ultimately, that investigation recommended firing the girl’s supervisor.

Credit: Atlanta City Television

Credit: Atlanta City Television

One official told another: “People at the commissioner level expect their families to be treated differently.”

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

The Inspector General summed up the situation: “A typical job seeker would not have the luxury of having a mother as a DHR commissioner where he could choose any job he wants. …The DHR Commissioner’s actions perpetuate the perception that the playing field is not level and reinforce the idea that you have to be ‘friends and family’ to succeed.”

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

There’s nothing wrong with that in itself, I suppose. I had union carpenter uncles who helped my brother and a few cousins ​​get into the trade. Whenever they worked for them, my uncles treated them harsher than other carpenters and made them work harder. They weren’t going to give them a break.

To see how extensive the family ties were, I looked at Atlanta’s ethics disclosure forms to see who had or had relatives working for the city. It is filled out by elected officials, board members and certain city administrators.

I discovered that three municipal court judges, at least four city commissioners or managers, two city council members and Mayor Andre Dickens have relatives who work or have worked for the city in the past three years.

Dickens said his daughter is a straight-A student who worked a few summers at a part-time job in the Parks & Rec department, “just like 5,000 other teenagers.”

Of the dozen department heads and officials mentioned in the Inspector General’s report, six of them have — or had — family members working in the city.

Kollas, the deputy human resources commissioner charged with investigating the supervisor who wanted Smith’s daughter fired, has two children of her own who work for the city, one in the police department and the other in “executive offices,” according to the documents. She did not return a call for comment.

Councilwoman Andrea Boone has, according to the filing, the “spouse of a parent, sibling or child” working in the Watershed Department. She didn’t answer me to talk about it.

All reports note that the people dropping them off were not monitoring their loved ones.

Credit: Ben Hendren

Credit: Ben Hendren

Longtime Councilman Michael Bond, who was once a city jail 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 only natural that many Atlantans, including relatives of city officials, would find jobs there. He was previously criticized for wanting to vote on an issue regarding the city jail while his brother worked there.

“My relatives decided on their own to work” for the city, Bond said. He said his father, civil rights leader Julian Bond, “emphasized that you should just go to work and not seek favors. That you’re not better than anyone else. Just do your job.

“You can’t control whether your sister or niece applies for a job and gets one. »

Former Mayor Andrew Young said government jobs gave a few generations of black Atlantans access to middle-class lives. He told me that his wife’s nephew worked in the water department.

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

“It’s inevitable that there will be relatives,” he said, adding: “If they mess up at work because they are someone’s relatives, well, we should get rid of them .”

My uncles would agree with that.