Reed hired Powell in 2016 to lead the department after firing Jo Ann Macrina. Powell came from Jackson, Miss., where her tenure as public works director was clouded by allegations that she tried to steer contracts to supporters of Jackson’s then-mayor, Tony Yarber.

Stephanie Coleman, Jackson’s former equal opportunity business manager, alleged in a 2017 federal lawsuit that Powell tried to direct others in a bid committee to support a proposal by a joint venture including Mitzi Bickers, a political consultant and pastor who has since been indicted in the Atlanta bribery scandal.

Powell was not a defendant in the lawsuit against the city. Coleman’s case, which centered around her termination, was settled out of court for $35,000, according to an article in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

Powell has consistently denied any wrongdoing and said on Thursday that her exit had nothing to do with Bickers’ upcoming trial.

“I don’t know her,” Powell said of Bickers. “Please let positive be positive.”

Powell’s tenure in Atlanta has been free of controversy. Bottoms credited her with successfully navigating issues involving a billion-dollar federal consent decree imposed on the city to reduce repeated sewage overflows.