Douglas Commissioner Under Fire For Racial Comments

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A Douglas County commissioner is being pressured to resign, and give up his re-election bid, after he was recorded making racially-charged comments about his opponent and other local politicians.

Tom Worthan, now the commission's chairman, was recorded at a county festival two weeks ago, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Worthan's opponent for re-election is a black woman.

The AJC reports that in the tape recording, Worthan says:

• That governments run by black people "bankrupt you."
• That if Tim Pounds, a black candidate for sheriff, is elected "he would put a bunch of blacks in leadership positions."
• That he's afraid Pounds would "put his black brothers in positions that maybe they’re not qualified to be in."

According to 2015 U.S. Census estimates, Douglas County is about 45 percent black.

Worthan has apologized for the comments.

"I spoke as a politician, trying to say what I needed to say to get a vote," he told WXIA-TV. "And that’s unfortunate. And I certainly apologize for doing that.

"I have many black friends, Hispanic friends and no, this is something that I should not have said," Worthan continued. "I certainly apologize to anybody that I might have hurt their feelings ... that's not the way I feel."

That's not enough for some Douglas County leaders, though.

State Rep. William K. Boddie Jr., who represents part of Douglas County, said in an open letter posted on Facebook that he thinks Worthan should resign immediately.

"Douglas County is a diverse county with people of many races and nationalities," Boddie wrote. "As the county chairman, one of your duties is to unite the residents of Douglas County to foster a better community with all Douglas County residents working together to achieve this goal.

"You have failed to achieve that goal."

Photo courtesy Douglas County