Mayor Bottoms Explains Improper Credit Card Use After AJC Open Records Request

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Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms / AP Photo/File

In the midst of ongoing investigations involving bribery and open records violations at Atlanta City Hall, the mayor's office is explaining why taxpayers were wrongly charged more than $2,000 for a plane ticket for the mayor's husband Derrick Bottoms — who is a vice president at The Home Depot, not a city employee.

He was traveling with Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to a Super Bowl meeting in Minneapolis, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The AJC reports former Chief Operating Officer Dan Gordon's city-issued card showed Derrick Bottoms' ticket was purchased a little over a week before the game. The statements were obtained through a request made under the Georgia Open Records Act.

Gordon declined to comment on Wednesday, referring all related questions to the mayor's office. A spokeswoman for Bottoms said the purchase was made in error, and that Bottoms refunded a portion of the ticket in February.

Improper use of city-issued credit cards has been an ongoing issue in Atlanta. Former Mayor Kasim Reed has reimbursed the city more than $50,000.