ATLANTA, Ga. — Atlanta City Auditor Leslie Ward made the bottom line clear after her team found the city's Public Works office of transportation cannot account for more than $2.1 million in supplies bought by taxpayers.
"I don't think that management has really made this an important part of their operation," Ward said. "If you don't have those controls, then your exposure can be quite large."
In the report, auditors noted of the 68 random items they tested, the amount on hand at two Public Works facilities matched the official inventory only once.
In all, auditors could not find about 78,000 individual items, including an estimated $2 million worth of asphalt.
"I'm extremely concerned," Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Reed promised his office will launch its own investigation.
"I think everybody in our administration should be worried, because I'm driven by performance and results," Reed said.
Reed is putting the heat on Public Works commissioner Richard Mendoza, who Channel 2 Action News pulled out of a City Council committee meeting for a response.
"As a department head I'm ultimately responsible for being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars and of the materials that we are entrusted with by basic services," Mendoza said.
While Mendoza promised to make sweeping changes, Reed made a promise for when he receives the results of the investigation that he has ordered.
"What you're going to see me do is take them seriously and then act in a decisive way to do the best thing I can to restore public confidence," Reed said.
WSBTV
