State Representatives Terry Cummings (D-Mableton), Mekyah McQueen (D-Smyrna), Lisa Campbell (D-Kennesaw) and Gabriel Sanchez (D-Smyrna) have called on Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) to conduct a formal ethics hearing and remove Vice Chair John Cristadoro from the Cobb County Board of Education. This follows Cristadoro’s misuse of $250,000 in client funds through his private company, Alliance Activation LLC.
The representatives appeal to court documents in the case of Sagicor Life Insurance Company v. Alliance Activation LLC to show that Cristadoro agreed to a consent judgment acknowledging that client funds were improperly diverted to pay business and personal expenses. This judgment required a repayment of $225,000 plus interest.
Rep. Terry Cummings acknowledged that while the misconduct occurred in Cristadoro’s private business, the ethical implications directly affect his capacity to fulfill fiduciary duties as an elected official.
“By his own admission, Mr. Cristadoro engaged in civil fraud involving a quarter of a million dollars of client money,” Cummings argued. “That is not a private lapse — it is a profound breach of fiduciary trust that disqualifies him from overseeing public funds. The Governor has a clear duty under Georgia law to protect public confidence in our institutions.”
Cummings further emphasizes that Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-61) and the Georgia School Boards Association’s Code of Ethics imply a fiduciary duty of integrity through its establishment of specific roles and responsibilities that are grounded in public trust and accountability.
Cummings commented on this further, stating that it’s all a matter of trust. The idea is that if one cannot be trusted with private funds, then they can’t be trusted with public funds either.
“Fiduciary duty doesn’t switch off when the meeting ends,” Cummings commented. “If a person cannot be trusted with client money in business, they cannot be trusted with taxpayer money in government.”
The delegation called on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to review the circumstances and assess if any violations related to public funds have occurred. They also called on the State Board of Education to conduct a formal ethics inquiry to review Cristadoro’s conduct.
