Embattled Chief of Atlanta Job-Training Agency Retiring
Deborah Lum, the longtime head of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, is retiring.
The announcement comes just days after a news report showed the agency may have squandered and misused hundreds of thousands of federal dollars meant for job-training.
City Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong called the recent revelations “disturbing” and said the departure seems appropriate.
“I’m going to trust Ms. Lum is doing what’s in the best interest, not only of the agency but the city,” said Archibong.
Lum had been at the agency for 11 years.
Mayor Kasim Reed’s office Wednesday didn’t give a reason for the sudden retirement, but Reed has said the agency needed radical change.
“We thought it was being reasonably well-run. We learned that it’s not and we’re going to change,” said Reed on Tuesday.
A weekend report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighted several cases of waste and abuse, but the agency has faced criticism for years. The U.S. Labor Department is investigating the agency. And last year, the city’s internal auditor called for the agency to be shut down, a position Reed’s office disagreed with.
Michael Sterling, a senior advisor to Reed, will serve as the agency’s interim director while the city conducts a national search to replace Lum.
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