Newly elected councilmember sets two firsts in Lilburn, county

Yoon-mi Hampton is now the first Black councilmember in Lilburn and the first person of Asian descent to hold that role in Gwinnett County, but said she hopes one day her race won’t matter.

Hampton took office during Monday’s City Council meeting after running unop- posed in a special election for Post 1. The new council- woman will complete the unexpired term of Lindsay Voigt that ends in December 2023. Voigt resigned earlier this year due to relocating outside of city limits.

Hampton, a Lilburn resident of 23 years, said she hopes to strengthen the com- munity and bring people together in her new role.

“I want this to be a city where we don’t see colors, races or religion, but we only see each other as the human race and work together to build this city,” Hampton, 61, said. “It takes a village to raise a child; it takes a village to raise a community.”

Hampton joined a group of community stakehold- ers who founded the “3.16 United Nations of Gwinnett” after the Atlanta spa shootings on March 16. Fellow members of the group encouraged Hampton to run for public office, and a vacancy on City Council convinced her to run for office.

“I’ve been serving, doing different things, and I didn’t think I was going to become a councilwoman,” Hampton said. “That was never in my vocabulary before, but then somehow it was time and God opened the doors.”

Ha m pton previously served on the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals. She’s a graduate of Lilburn’s Citizens Police Academy and a member of the city’s Woman’s Club. She considers herself a “dispatcher,” lending a hand to those in need.

Yoon-mi Hampton