Politics

Norwood and Aman trade barbs on Atlanta city purchasing scandal

ATLANTA — Two Atlanta mayoral candidates are sparring over how much responsibility one of them has for the bribery scandal that has overshadowed Mayor Kasim Reed's administration this year.

Councilwoman Mary Norwood is accusing Peter Aman of having more influence over the purchasing than he has suggested he had. Aman worked for two years as Reed’s top staff executive.

Aman, however, told Channel 2 investigative reporter Richard Belcher that he did not take part in picking the winning bidders in the 2011-12 airport concession contracts that have come under scrutiny.

Atlanta mayoral candidates Peter Aman and Mary Norwood face off in the Channel 2 mayoral debate on Oct. 22.

“No, not at all,” he said. “This is politics.”

He acknowledges that he did help airport staff determine its purchasing needs and participated in the selection of the individuals who did award the bids. He said there had been no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of city employees.

“I think this particular point about what happened six and seven years ago – when I’ve been as transparent as I possibly can be -- is being oversold a bit,” he said.

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Norwood and Aman are trading barbs for position in a crowded 12-candidate field. Early voting is going on now and concludes Nov. 7. According to the most recent WSB-TV/Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll, Norwood is in first place with 22 percent of the vote, followed by Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms at 19 percent and Aman at 13 percent.

On the campaign trail, Aman opened the door to the accusation by making cronyism a significant campaign theme.

“Corruption is a major issue in the city, and I’ve been very clear that there is a culture of corruption, which we need to get rid of,” he said.

At the Channel 2 mayoral debate on Oct. 22, Norwood lit into Aman for having determined purchasing needs and for selecting those who awarded the contracts. In a follow-up interview, she threw this barb: "You cannot have it both ways. You cannot set yourself up to be the – anti-corruption, only-one-who's-ethical (person) – and yet have been involved in violating the city code."