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Roswell council votes to end SEER World engagement after resident criticism
Summary
On May 26 the Roswell Mayor and Council authorized termination of SEER World LLC'9s master services engagement after a heated public comment and council debate over contract scope, transparency and perceived conflicts; the motion passed 4-2.
The Roswell Mayor and Council voted May 26 to authorize the City Attorney to send a termination notice to SEER World LLC under Section 6.1 of the city'9s master services agreement, following a public comment period that accused the consultant of opaque contracting and conflicts of interest.
Resident Andrew Leonardi urged the council to end SEER World'9s role and to provide a public accounting of the firm'9s work and travel. "Roswell residents deserve transparency, accountability, and measurable results for how public money is spent," Leonardi said, accusing the city of expanding consulting contracts without an open competitive process and citing a master services agreement described during public comment as "worth up to $2 million annually." He also criticized a proposed $340,000 compensation figure and questioned international trade missions that he said led to job placements at companies recruited to the city.
City Attorney Davidson presented the termination item and said staff would follow the contract'9s required steps. Council member Allen Sells defended the city'9s use of outside consultants for economic development and said work had been documented in individual statements of work. "There were 25 SOWs. Each of those were a particular project and work was done on each of those," Sells said, adding that several projects were completed or advanced with consultant support.
Council member Christine Hall praised the results of an early trade mission to the Czech Republic and the recruitment of PBS Aerospace, which she said could bring investments ranging from $30 million to as much as $90 million and high-paying jobs. "This is the first of hopefully many to come and an ecosystem that is part of our economic strategy," Hall said.
After council discussion, the motion to authorize sending a termination notice passed 4-2. The council did not record a roll-call vote with names on the dais in the public transcript; the clerk announced "Four in favor, two opposed." City Attorney Davidson said further development agreements and project proposals tied to prior economic-development work would return to the council for review in June and later in the summer and fall.
The item comes after months of public reporting and resident concern about the city'9s contracting and expenditures related to economic development. The council did not adopt additional transparency measures on the motion; staff said they will present project proposals and development agreements to council in upcoming meetings.
