« Bob Griggs opines on aftermath of grand jury probe »

Longtime Gwinnett political insider Bob Griggs has posted on his blog an interesting analysis of the aftermath of the ongoing grand jury probe into Gwinnett land deals .  He expects both former Chairman Charles Bannister and District 4 Commissioner Kevin Kenerly to be indicted as a result of the probe.  In such a scenario, the resulting falling dominoes would make for a very interesting period for Gwinnett politics:

[District 1 Commissioner Mike] Beaudreau, as the Chairman Pro Tem, will lead a three-member Commission until January. John Heard and Lynette Howard will win in the general election, take office in January and will vote, subsequently, to hold a special election for Chairman. Heard will then announce that he intends to seek the Chairman’s seat. He has reportedly told associates that it was always his plan to run for Chairman in two years. He risks a 2012 loss if someone else is given two years in the seat to build goodwill.

Beaudreau will not run for Chairman; he is gainfully employed in a career job and won’t give it up for more headaches and a pay cut. I expect several– the usual suspects and a few newbies– to run, however.

Seems plausible given that Bannister resigned this morning.  While we do not yet know what connection that resignation has to the grand jury investigation, the timing is suspicious to say the least.  I would disagree on his prediction that Mike Beaudreau would not run for Commission Chairman.  While Beaudreau may well have a career job, I have always thought he had career politician written all over him and I would have been stunned had he not run for Chairman or some other higher office at the end of the his current commission term in 2012.  While I certainly do not have the connections that Griggs has, to think that Beaudreau's political aspirations end at commissioner does not resonate with me.

One prediction that really encourages me is that John Heard, who I expect to win Kenerly's seat next month, would resign to run for Chairman.  This would open the door for another bid by Tommy Hunter.  While John Heard was certainly preferable to apparent Beaudreau-clone Tim Sullivan, Hunter was far and away the best choice in District 4.  Tommy barely missed the runoff so another chance for him to get on the Commissiongreatly excites me.

One thing is for sure - things look to get very interesting in Gwinnett political circles in the coming weeks and months.