Image: AJC

February 26, 2020

Gwinnett commissioners drop ethics complaint against Marlene Fosque

Gwinnett County commissioners have dropped an ethics complaint filed last summer against Commissioner Marlene Fosque.

Gwinnett County Commissioner Marlene Fosque. Image Gwinnett County website

The Wednesday decision came after the county’s ethics board recommended last month that Fosque receive a written warning for what it said were violations of county policy.

The board upheld two of six ethics complaints against Fosque made last summer by D.A. King, an anti-illegal immigration activist who complained after Fosque called him “someone known for spewing hatred and bigotry and racism.”“It is a very difficult thing that we have in front of us tonight,” Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash told more than 50 people gathered in Lawrenceville for a public hearing, before making a motion not to take action on the ethics board’s recommended punishment. “I believe Commissioner Fosque learned something about how things work in the political world.”

Nash’s statement garnered applause and Fosque, who recused herself from the board and sat in the audience for the public hearing, said she thought it was “a great decision, of course.”Fosque said in renouncing King, she thought it was important to make sure all the county’s residents felt welcomed by her after controversy surrounded his participation in a panel discussion she organized.“I will always create a space for people of all walks of life,” Fosque said.

More than 20 people spoke Wednesday in support of Fosque, while seven came to the microphone to say they thought she should be punished. Fosque said she was “pleasantly pleased” by the level of support. Resident after resident commended her for her integrity and bravery in speaking up against King. Her supporters included Sen. Sheikh Rahman, D-Lawrenceville, a Bangladeshi immigrant and the state’s first Muslim elected official in the General Assembly and Rep. Brenda Lopez Romero, D-Norcross, who said after spending 12 years as an undocumented immigrant, she wanted to support Fosque for speaking on behalf of those who were most marginalized.

Read the rest here, with the AJC links.