Gwinnett candidate posts reprimand by opponent's past employer

Two candidates vying to unseat Gwinnett County District 3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau have taken an interesting strategy -- attack each other.

This week, Mike Korom posted on his campaign website an 8-year-old letter of reprimand to Tommy Hunter, which outlined a series of conflicts of interest when Hunter was a senior construction manager for the county.

The letter points out several violations of the rules and regulations of the county’s merit system, saying that Hunter used county time and resources to work on private real estate deals. Hunter, whose phone and Internet usage was monitored, was accused of excessive tardiness, abuse of company property and violating email policies.

Korom’s campaign manager, Rich Carithers, said the letter was sent to him anonymously, then verified by the campaign through an Open Records Act request since Hunter’s file -- as a county employee -- is public.

On Friday, Hunter called the accusations "inaccurate" and said the documents were actually leaked from Beaudreau.

"This is simply more of the same from the Beaudreau camp," Hunter said. "They will do anything, including sending anonymous emails containing inaccurate accusations and one-sided memos that are years old from my former employer. I'm going to focus on the issues that matter to the citizens of District 3 and provide open lines of communication to my constituents.  I am confident that the voters will be able to see this attempted smear campaign for what it is."

Beaudreau on Friday said he did not provide the letter to anyone.