Embattled Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter wants to focus on his district and the county instead of the controversy over Facebook comments he made more than two months ago. For now, his consultant Seth Weathers tells InsiderAdvantage that Hunter has done what he can to make amends for those comments. Still, Hunter has no idea when, or how, it will all end.
Hunter called U.S. Rep. John Lewis a “racist pig” on Facebook after the civil rights icon criticized President Donald Trump about a week before the inauguration. Hunter also made disparaging comments about Democrats in general on Facebook.
About a month after the comments, Hunter tried to mend fences. He and other Gwinnett County Commissioners toured a civil rights museum on Feb. 14. That same night, another bridge-building effort end with more bridges burned that built. Hunter attended a Lawrenceville NAACP meeting, but left when the audience continually interrupted him.
Since then, he has mostly avoided public criticism of his comments by leaving public meetings before the public comment section.
Weathers, who ran Hunter’s campaign and has been his spokesman during the issue, said Hunter wants to focus only on his job as commissioner. “He is going to continue to represent the people of his district,” Weathers said. That doesn’t mean he will never stay for public comments again, though.
“That could change at any time,” Weathers said. “He is just going to do his best to do what is best for Gwinnett.”
As for the commissioner’s future, Weathers said resigning was never on the table. Beyond that, Hunter and his team will deal with protests as they come up. “We can’t control what other people do,” he said. And that includes a threatened recall. The timing of Hunter’s comments mean that a recall, always a tough proposition, will have to wait.
The recall effort can’t start until Hunter is 180 days into his term. Since he started a new term in January, the recall is on hold until the middle of the year. Weathers said they are prepared for any recall effort, but he didn’t think the issue would have that kind of staying power.
He certainly doesn’t think it will have the staying power to make a difference in 2020 if Hunter should decide to run for a third term.
“It is not going to affect his decision either way,” Weathers said.
The final effort to remove Hunter from office before his term ends, an ethics complaint, seemed to lose that potential once county lawyers said the law does not allow his removal by an ethics panel. None of that has slowed the calls from other politicians for Hunter to step aside, though. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed send a letter to Hunter’s employer United Consulting, a major contractor for the city. Then, the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus called for his resignation.
That, according to Weathers, is just politicians being politicians.
Hunter, according to Weathers, has received private support from other elected officials. He isn’t seeking public support, because that would bring others into his controversy.
