After ‘racist pig’ reprimand, where does Gwinnett go from here?

Collene Haskamp stands with her sign while more protesters demand the resignation of Tommy Hunter, the District 3 leader that called U.S. Rep. John Lewis a “racist pig” on Facebook, during the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners meeting on Feb. 28.

Credit: Curtis Compton

Credit: Curtis Compton

Collene Haskamp stands with her sign while more protesters demand the resignation of Tommy Hunter, the District 3 leader that called U.S. Rep. John Lewis a “racist pig” on Facebook, during the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners meeting on Feb. 28.

Tommy Hunter, he of "John Lewis is a racist pig" Facebook infamy, has been officially reprimanded.

The written condemnation from his colleagues on the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, the result of a controversial ethics investigation, has been posted online and on the courthouse wall. Soon, the five-page denunciation, which notes a "pattern of behavior that fails to adequately consider the good of the County," will appear in the local newspaper, completing the process.

But then what?

Will the uproar — the months and months of commission meeting protests and racial angst, of early departures by Hunter and controversial comments from his political consultant, of frustration among members of an otherwise buttoned-up government — finally come to an end? Will everything…calm down?

Not likely.

The protests may continue, a recall election is a possibility, and Hunter’s lawsuit will still be there.

“He has really created a situation in Gwinnett County that we can never go back to the status quo,” Donna McLeod, one of the architects of the anti-Hunter movement, said. “Those days are long gone now.”

The Board of Commissioners meets again Tuesday, its first gathering since adopting the resolution reprimanding Hunter.

Phyllis Richardson, a leader of a group called United Together, said this week that she expects protesters to show up, just as they have at all 16 meetings held since Hunter's Jan. 14 Facebook post. Reacting to Lewis calling Donald Trump's presidency illegitimate, Hunter went on the attack that day. The Republican commissioner also has referred to Democrats as"Demonrats," "libtards" and a "bunch of idiots.Those comments were first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

McLeod, meanwhile, said this week she wasn’t yet sure what the strategy would be moving forward.

“The protest is an effective method,” she said. “… But we also have to make sure it’s geared toward an accomplishment.”

That accomplishment just might be a recall election.

The process would be a long shot, requiring (for starters) the signatures from 30 percent of the 128,000 or so registered voters in Hunter’s commission district. But the idea is something that’s been floated since the beginning of the saga. The waiting period (Georgia law prohibits officials from being recalled with 180 days of starting a new term) is just about over.

Hunter was narrowly re-elected in November and started his term Jan. 1.

Richardson, McLeod and Gwinnett County Democratic Party chairman Gabe Okoye — who have often collaborated during the Hunter situation — all said that a decision about whether or not to try for a recall could be made soon.

Hunter’s camp plans to keep fighting too, even post-punishment.

Just hours before the ethics board held its final hearing in the commissioner's case, Hunter hired an attorney. That attorney, Dwight Thomas, quickly filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the ethics board.

The lawsuit is still snaking its way through the court system. As of Friday morning, no hearing had been scheduled.

Gwinnett Commissioner Tommy Hunter sent this Facebook post in January. CONTRIBUTED

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Thomas told the AJC he’s still “exploring all legal options to vindicate and vacate the improper and illegal purported reprimand.” Seth Weathers, Hunter’s consultant and spokesman, also said the lawsuit over the ethics board and subsequent reprimand — which he considers a First Amendment issue — isn’t going away.

Weathers suggested too that Hunter will continue to leave board meetings before public hearings, the periods protesters have used to voice their opinions for several months now.

“This Board of Commissioners, they are so weak-kneed and fearful of doing anything that might be controversial that they’ve become a controversy,” he said.

Charlotte Nash, the chairman of Gwinnett’s Board of Commissioners, said she’s disappointed that Hunter has left meetings early. She added she’s prepared for protests to continue and is fully aware that the possibility of a recall election is looming.

While the Hunter fallout has pained her deeply — she grew teary-eyed Tuesday while announcing the reprimand — she’s not sure it should be forgotten so quickly, no matter what lies ahead.

“I don’t know that it needs to be put behind us,” Nash said. The intensity of the emotions stirred by Hunter “needs to be recognized and (acknowledging) it needs to be part of what we do looking forward.”

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The AJC's Tyler Estep keeps you updated on the latest happenings in Gwinnett County government and politics. You'll find more on myAJC.com, including these stories:

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