'Racist pig’ ethics board will hold its first meeting this week

A fifth member — one set aside to be appointed by Hunter himself — is unlikely to be present.

Hunter has thus far opted not to make the appointment granted to him — and the subject of any complaint — in the county's ethics ordinance.

According to the ordinance, appointments are to be made within 30 days of the involved parties being notified of the need to do so, “or as soon thereafter as practicable.” The 30-day mark passed on March 19.

Hunter’s spokesman has not responded to multiple inquiries about the commissioner’s appointment. Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash, meanwhile, has said she doesn’t see any reason why the ethics board can’t proceed without it.

“Four people have [been] seated, that's a majority of the board,” Nash told The AJC last week. “My anticipation is that it would proceed unless there's some type of court challenge.”

The four already appointed ethics board members are: Herman Pennamon, a longtime community leader and volunteer, who was appointed by the county's Board of Commissioners; David Will, a longtime Lawrenceville attorney, who was appointed by the Gwinnett Bar Association; current Gwinnett grand juror Terri Duncan, who was appointed by the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office; and Fayette County Commissioner Charles Rousseau, who was appointed by the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia.

The ethics complaint against Hunter was filed Feb. 6 on behalf of Atlanta resident Nancie Turner. It alleges that, with his now infamous Jan. 14 Facebook post about Lewis, he violated several portions of Gwinnett's 2011 ethics ordinance.

The ordinance is primarily meant to target shady land deals and other corruption, but one section highlighted in the complaint against Hunter urges elected officials and county employees to “never engage in conduct which is unbecoming to a member or which constitutes a breach of public trust.”

The ethics ordinance, which applies to all county employees, technically gives the ethics board the power to recommend penalties ranging from written reprimand to removal from office. But state law makes it very difficult to remove elected officials unless a criminal offense is involved.