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Atlanta ethics office reports higher disclosure compliance, launches "Genie" audit bot and plans ethics week
Summary
Ethics staff reported a 96% financial disclosure filing rate, launched an automated auditing tool called "Genie," proposed a flat FY26 budget of $1.7 million from the general fund (total $2.5 million including other funds), and announced plans for a new website, case-management system and an ethics week in October.
Ethics Officer Jabu Sangova told the council committee that the Atlanta City Ethics Office developed an automated audit program nicknamed "Genie" to identify potential conflicts on disclosure forms and will expand technology and training next fiscal year.
Sangova said Genie will allow the office to audit all filed disclosure statements rather than a small sample. "Genie is the name of the bot," Sangova said, adding that the automated reviews replace a largely manual auditing process and increase the thoroughness of conflict checks.
The office reported a 96% completion rate for the 2025 financial disclosure filings, up from 94% for 2024, and a 90% completion rate for ethics training, which Sangova said equated to about 9,018 employees because staff made accommodations for employees with limited access to technology.
For FY26 the ethics office proposed a general-fund budget of approximately $1.7 million and a total budget of about $2.5 million when including aviation and wastewater funds the office serves. Sangova said the FY26 staffing count should be 14 FTE once one vacant position is reclassified into an investigator opening and filled.
Planned investments include a new public-facing ethics website (targeted launch September 2025), a consolidated case-management system (targeted August completion), an updated e-learning course (targeted July launch), and a full "ethics week" scheduled the week of Oct. 16 with a major event on Oct. 18.
Council members asked whether the additional investigator position had been posted and whether the website and training investments would improve outreach and transparency. Sangova said the personnel paperwork had been submitted and hiring would follow ratification; she said the website will be more user-friendly and will support educational outreach.
Sangova also noted partnership with the Department of Human Resources for training and with outside professional organizations: the office will engage with the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) conference when it convenes in Atlanta.
The session was a budget and program briefing and included no formal council action.
