Tony Lewis acknowledges that what he did “was a mistake,” when he threatened to make public a relationship between a teacher and student if HR officer Bill Briggman did not hire five women to replace other employees. “We all say things when we are angry” Lewis said. “We don’t think, you know? So, again, I was very angry because…we had someone in our schools committing an inappropriate act with our students, and we wouldn’t hire these other folks.”
But Lewis also accused county school district officials who banned him from school grounds based on the phone threat of trying to unjustly sabotage his campaign for school board candidate. “I didn’t blackmail (anybody) because I didn’t get a nickel, a dollar, or even a new job,” Lewis said.