Atlanta Council seeks to set rules on city employee bonuses

ATLANTA - The revelation that tens of thousands of dollars were handed out to a select number of Atlanta government workers left a lot of taxpayers shaking their heads. The most talked about incident took place during a private employee Christmas party. Then-Mayor Kasim Reed presided over a contest giving contestants/workers the chance to win a bonus.

The practice took place before citizens voted in new leaders.

One of those is City Council Member Marci Collier Overstreet. She has introduced a bill on behalf of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to set some rules on what and how bonuses should be awarded.

She took her paper to the finance chair of the council, Howard Shook. The chairman discovered there is any number of city codes that could apply, and some regulations that are in conflict.

Shook told her to pause and make sure any new legislation gets the go-ahead of the city lawyer, the ethics chief, and the auditor.

RELATED: Mayor Kasim Reed's employee bonuses totaled more than $740,000