Suzanne Brown’s Attempt to Retaliate Against Free Speech Should Concern Us All

I have served as a volunteer Planning Commissioner for Peachtree City since 2019. During this time, I’ve worked on rezoning cases, annexation requests, and landscaping plans, and I’ve led the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Steering Committee to update and organize our ordinances. None of this work has been political. Every recommendation I have made has been rooted in bettering our community.

I am now finishing my second three-year term as a Planning Commissioner, and interviews are about to begin to be considered for three open seats. Twelve residents have applied for those positions, including myself and current chair Scott Ritenour.

However, leading up to these interviews, I was informed that Council Member Suzanne Brown was taking unusual steps behind the scenes. Through an open records request, I obtained a string of emails about scheduling the interviews. What began as a simple exchange about dates quickly turned into something very different. Ms. Brown shifted from talking about the calendar to arguing that I should not even be interviewed for a third term. Not because I’m unqualified — but because she does not like what I write in this newspaper.

Here is what she wrote to city staff (email exchange here):

“Mr. Hamner’s public commentary in local newspapers—where he is identified as both Vice Chair of the Planning Commission and Chair of the UDO Committee—has introduced a concerning level of political partisanship into what should remain an impartial and objective civic body. His repeated partisan remarks and political accusations have fostered tension among current elected officials and candidates for the 2025 election cycle, undermining the Planning Commission’s reputation as a non-partisan institution. This erosion of neutrality risks compromising the Commission’s ability to maintain constructive relationships with both elected leadership and the development community, which are essential to the city’s planning and governance efforts. Therefore, I’m willing to go along with limiting interviews if Mr. Hamner is excluded.”

That last sentence is especially revealing. Ms. Brown did not simply argue against interviewing me. She made my exclusion a condition for moving forward with any interviews. 

Think about that: she was willing to hold up official city business unless I was cut.

That is a terrible abuse of process — turning what should have been a routine scheduling email into retaliation against one citizen’s voice. And it should concern every resident who expects elected officials to act with fairness and integrity.

Suzanne Brown’s Allegations Don’t Hold Up

Let me be clear: I have broken no rules that would disqualify me from serving another term, and my record reflects years of consistent, fair service to this city.

I have always worked well with staff, my fellow volunteers, and members of council. Earlier this year, Council Member Clint Holland recognized my service with a Peachtree City 65th Anniversary coin, an honor he said was given to only a handful of residents. Even with Ms. Brown, I have never had a bad in-person interaction. All of this is why her claim that I am “compromising the Commission’s ability to maintain constructive relationships” is baseless.

What Ms. Brown does get right is that my columns in The Citizen have always identified my Planning Commission and UDO roles. But I have never claimed to speak on behalf of either group, and every column is clearly published under my own name. Her sudden objection — after months of silence — does not suggest genuine concern. It is an excuse to punish me for exercising free speech she doesn’t like.

The timing of her complaints makes the motive clear. They surfaced only after I fact-checked her allies Steve Brown and James Clifton, pointing out their platform’s significant factual inaccuracies and Steve Brown’s long record of divisive politics.

Yet my criticism has never been one-sided. For example, I have called out municipal and county officials over the “Great Wall” dispute, and I was even critical of Ms. Brown’s political rival, Mayor Kim Learnard, for supporting the Stagecoach Road annexation.

Given these criticisms across the local spectrum, I reject Ms. Brown’s notion that I have displayed “political partisanship.” I’ve advocated for accountability, and if holding others to account has made her uncomfortable or claim I’ve “fostered tension among current elected officials and candidates for the 2025 election cycle,” that says more about her than it does about me.

My actual record proves where my loyalties lie. As a Planning Commissioner, I opposed the Aberdeen Parkway rezoning that would have converted valuable commercial property into apartments. During the previously-mentioned Stagecoach Road annexation, I raised concerns about the project’s environmental impact, its weak fiscal return, and the fact that it conflicted with the city’s own 2014 annexation plan. I have also pressed for the integration of native plants into landscaping requirements, an idea now moving toward adoption as a formal ordinance.

Additionally, I have helped lead the UDO process — one of the most complex projects volunteers have taken on for the city. The first attempt at this effort, which included Ms. Brown, collapsed after its very first meeting because the project was overwhelming. As chair of the current steering committee, I helped restart the process and guide it forward.

This is my real record: civic-minded service for what’s best for Peachtree City.

Suzanne Brown’s Bigger Issue – Punishing Free Speech

This controversy is about more than whether I am reappointed to a volunteer position. It is about whether a sitting council member can misuse their position to attack residents they do not like. After all, Ms. Brown was not just expressing disagreement. She tried to dictate the rules of the interview process itself to exclude me from the Planning Commission and, ultimately, the UDO I’m leading since that committee can only be staffed by commissioners.

That is retaliation for my speech, plain and simple. Every resident who cares about open government should be outraged because the message Ms. Brown sends is frightening: Do not speak. Do not write. Do not question. Keep your head down, or risk being shut out.

That is how civic engagement erodes — not in one dramatic act, but in the slow silencing of voices until only the most compliant remain.

But this approach will not work on me. Regardless of what happens with my Planning Commission appointment, I will not be silenced. I will continue writing fact-based articles about what’s happening in our community because our city is strongest when residents are informed, engaged, and speak their mind. 

I hope, one day, Suzanne Brown will come to see that too.