Education Education

Reporting Misconduct

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Lesson 4: Reporting Misconduct

The City's "Integrity Line" is a telephone hotline/website available 24/7 to report potentially unethical, fraudulent, or illegal acts by City of Atlanta officials, employees, and contractors. Reports can be made anonymously and are independently reviewed by the Office of the Inspector General, Ethics and Compliance Divisions. 

Please view the short video below to learn more about reporting misconduct.

 

As always, the Ethics Division is here to guide you through an ethical dilemma or potential conflict of interest.
City officials, employees, contractors/vendors and members of the public are encouraged to contact the
Ethics Office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (404) 330-6286 for specific advice and guidance. 

Ethics Briefings

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Click on an ethics briefing link below to learn more:


Handling Conflicts of Interest

 
Note: If you have a question related to a specific action or ethical dilemma, city officials, employees, vendors as well as members of the public are encouraged to contact the Ethics Office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (404) 330-6286 for further advice and guidance. 

E-Learning Phase One

Details

The City of Atlanta Ethics Office, pursuant to former Mayor Kasim Reed's Administrative Order 2014-01, Section 2-825
of the Code of Ethics, and in partnership with the Department of Atlanta Information Management ("AIM") and
the Department of Watershed Management, developed the initial ethics e-learning course for city employees (Phase One).

The Purpose of the Course is to:

• Explain key ethics rules to employees;
• assess their understanding of the rules; and
• encourage them to engage in ethical conduct

About the Course
Phase One contains four modules focused on basic ethical dilemmas affecting a large cross-section
of the city's employee population. Each module contains a video scenario followed by a series of questions for
the employee to answer. Phase Two is currently under development. 


Click below to view each module:

Module 1: The Building Inspector

Module 2: The Concessions Deal

Module 3: The Power Seller

Module 4: The Dinner Deal

Conflicts & Prohibited Sources

Details

Click on the image below to view a short video

Appropriate dealings and relationships between officials and employees of the City of Atlanta and city contractors, vendors, customers and other prohibited sources play a key role in building an ethical culture which promotes public trust and protects the integrity of city government.

What do you mean by "Prohibited Sources?"

Prohibited sources fall into several categories. They include a person, business, or entity that is:

• Seeking official action from the city;
• Doing or seeking city business;
• Representing a client doing business, seeking business, or seeking official action from the city;
• Registered as a lobbyist with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission; or
• Has an interest that could be substantially affected by how an official or employee performing his or her official duties.

What do you mean by a "Conflict of Interest?"

Officials or employees have a conflict of interest when they place their own financial or personal interests over the best interests of the city.

Examples

• The cashier who assists a water customer, who is a prohibited source, with his accounts cannot accept $20 for lunch from the customer in appreciation for the employee's services.

• A city employee may not send emails or make telephone calls to department contractors and vendors, who are prohibited sources, to raise funds for an employee picnic during National Public Works Week.

• The city's fire marshal with oversight authority over fire safety inspectors and permits at public venues, such as a nightclub, may not be hired as an in-house fire marshal at one of those venues.

• An employee in the airport's concessions office cannot develop or approve the specifications for the request for proposal for food and beverage concessions when she is discussing future employment with a concessionaire that plans to submit a bid.

• A councilmember who is a member of the board of directors of a non-profit organization should not vote on legislation awarding city funds to it.

*Note: The information above is not intended as a guide in any specific situation. For questions about how these rules apply to a particular situation, please contact the Ethics Office.