Dave Burris, the Chair of the Sussex County Republican Party is asking for State Representative John Atkins to quit or be kicked out of the house. Reluctantly I agree with Dave. I think John needs professional help. I hope he can heal, and return to public life someday.
TO: The Members of the House Majority Caucus
c/o Rep. Terry R. Spence, Speaker of the House of Representatives
FROM: David M. Burris, Chairman, Sussex County Republican Committee
Dear Members of the House Majority Caucus:
Throughout this entire ordeal, I stood by John Atkins, defending him against certain charges and often appearing on the radio encouraging others to give John the benefit of the doubt until the ethics process was complete. I have interacted with John on a regular basis, often multiple times in the same day. I have also received reports from others, some I’ve never met, of John’s outside activity.
In my interaction with John, at no time has he expressed any remorse for what occurred on that night. At no time has he expressed any desire to improve his situation through counseling or other means. In fact, he went to great lengths to avoid and to alter his court-ordered counseling.
What John has done is adopt an all-consuming fiery passion to take down as many other elected and appointed officials as possible, on both sides of the aisle. He encouraged me to use my blog and/or my connections with other bloggers and media to promote various charges against several members of the House Democratic Caucus.
John has also been spotted drinking in local bars on several occasions during the first few months of this calendar year, most recently on Friday, March 16, 2007 at Smitty McGee’s in Fenwick Island. While the act in itself is not illegal or specifically unethical, for John to be seen drinking in a public place in the middle of his ethics process reveals to me that he has learned nothing from this experience, and that it will just be a matter of time before another incident occurs.
That is the crux of this whole situation — if you let John off with a slap on the wrist, you, the House Republican Caucus, have bought and paid for his next mistake. Whenever he slips up again, it will belong to you as much as it does to him.
To adopt the recommendations of the ethics committee – which, to the average citizen, translates to absolutely no punishment at all – is simply not enough. Your actions will tell the people of Delaware, of all ages, that lying in a deposition to the ethics committee (something we impeached a President for) and driving a car after being told that you have a BAC nearly twice the legal limit essentially carry no punishment beyond public embarrassment.
How can you as elected Republicans have the moral authority to set policies governing the behavior of the ordinary citizen when you won’t enforce proper behavior out of your own members, even in the most extreme of cases?
I can firmly say at this point with no reservation whatsoever that it is in John Atkins’ best interest and the best interest of the caucus, the Republican Party and the State of Delaware that John resign or be expelled from the Delaware House of Representatives.
I can not guarantee you that the Republican Party will retain the seat in the 41st district. I can only say that we feel incredibly optimistic that we can do so. We have a multitude of potential candidates, all people of character, who will serve admirably and with honor and I guarantee you that the Sussex County Republicans would work tirelessly to win the special election.
It brings me no joy, only extreme sadness and frustration to write this letter. I am certainly putting my position as Chairman on the line in reaching out to you, as this letter will be released to the public. However, I believe leadership requires doing the right thing, not the easy thing, and requires doing it out in the open.
As a result, I am prepared to accept whatever consequences come my way, even if it costs me my position, because I know that this action is in the long-term interests of our Party, and improving those long-term interests is my duty.
I respect the undue burden that you face in casting judgment on one of your own, as we are all flawed in our own way, but I urge you to consider the message you send to the people of our State, including the young minds who don’t understand the concept of Censure. They only see that an elected official drove drunk mere moments after being released without punishment from driving drunk; that the same official lied under oath to the committee investigating the incident; and that the official will get away with doing all of it in every way that a young mind can comprehend.
Take this opportunity to teach those young minds that Republicans are willing to demand a minimum standard of character in our elected officials.
Demand John Atkins’ resignation or vote to expel him.
With Respect and Humility,
David M. Burris
Chairman
Sussex County Republican Committee
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Sorry John. I think it’s for your own good.
