Atlanta Mayor Reed Defends Administration’s Stability

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May 24th, 2016

As he gave details Monday of his reasons for firing two high-profile department heads, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said his style is to make adjustments when necessary.

Jo Ann Macrina, former commissioner of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management, and Miguel Southwell, former Hartsfield-Jackson general manager, are the two latest department heads to be looking for work elsewhere. It’s not the first leadership change for either department during Reed’s administration.

Reed insists there’s no more turnover than under previous mayors.

“We’ve actually had a very stable administration,” said Reed.

The head of Invest Atlanta was let go earlier this year after tensions over the appointment of a new chief financial officer. Atlanta’s former fire chief sued the city after the mayor fired him for distributing his controversial religious book at work.

“Whether it’s been a quick turnaround or not, he’s got to work with the team because at the end of the day he’s responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city and we’re going to, as citizens and public officials, hold him accountable for it,” said City Council member Felicia Moore.

Nearly a dozen other department or agency heads have stepped down during his administration.

City Council member Howard Shook said the recent terminations were not surprising in the lead up to the end of Reed’s two terms.

“Under his watch we’ve had the longest tenured CFO that we’ve had in about 20 years,” said Shook.

Shook’s comment echoed the mayor’s own defense of his management style and the stability of his term when asked about turnover.

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