Hatch Act Resignations

A Michigan Schoolcraft County Commissioner was forced to resign due to a three-year violation of the Hatch Act. Schoolcraft County is located in the upper peninsula of Michigan).

Sore Commissioner blames others for his Hatch Act Violation and resignation:

Blogger P. Markham, of Michigan, shares with readers, former Commissioner McKinney's words, as quoted in the Pioneer Tribune, "I guess you can be a sexual offender and run for office but you can't be a counselor. That's what I take from this." His stated reference to a "sexual offender" running for Schoolcraft County Commissioner, added to the context of Commissioner McKinney's resignation letter, and local political history, was the most vicious personal assault I have witnessed in the Schoolcraft County political arena.

That it came from a"counselor", employed by the tax funded Hiawatha Behavioral Health facility, added to my jaundiced view of most things, H.B.H., and social welfare"professionals", in general. Because McKinney stuck his hose in a political wringer, voluntarily, and someone turned the handle, he used Erickson as a convenient scape-goat, to redirect attention from the consequences of his choices.

With verbal slights-of-hands, he, and his supporters, redirected public attention from Commissioner McKinney, the bitter exposed law breaker, to "Saint" McKinney, the sympathetic victim of an unnamed "sexual offender" associated with a conspiracy of power hungry "committee"members.

The entire post can be read here: (thanks to P. Markham)http://www.manistique.org/mckinney_hatch_act.html

* The Hatch Act applies to federal, executive branch, state and local employees who are principally employed in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States or a federal agency.

The Hatch Act, passed in 1939 following scandals involving officials of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, sets guidelines on the types of political activity in which federal employees and state and local employees who deal with federal money can participate.

Employees who work for educational or research institutions which are supported in whole or in part by a State or political subdivision of the State are not covered by the provisions of the Hatch Act.

Employees of private nonprofit organizations are covered by the Hatch Act only if the statute through which the organization receives its federal funds contains language which states that the organization shall be considered to be a state or local agency for purposes of the Hatch Act, e.g., Headstart and Community Service Block Grant statutes.

An employee’s conduct is also subject to the laws of the state and the regulations of the employing agency. Additionally, employees should be aware that the prohibitions of the Hatch Act are not affected by state or local laws. http://www.historycentral.com/documents/hatchact.html

*Sore Loser: one who doesn't take failure well, especially one who complains or contests it. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/failure

*Sore Winner: one who gloats over a victory. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sore_winner

*Sore Hatch Act Violator: one who gloats at victory and complains or contests being forced to resign from office after being found in violation of the law.

Dignified Hatch Act Violator resignation: (Lorita Doan)

Dear Friends and Colleagues at GSA,
Early this evening I was asked to submit my resignation, and I have just done so. It has been a great privilege to serve with all of you and to serve our nation and a great President.
The past twenty-two months have been filled with accomplishments: together, we have regained our clean audit opinion, restored fiscal discipline, re-tooled our ability to respond to emergencies, rekindled entrepreneurial energies, reduced bureaucratic barriers to small companies to get a GSA Schedule, ignited a building boom at our nation's ports of entries, boldly led the nation in an aggressive telework initiative, and improved employee morale so that we were selected as one of the best places to work in the Federal government.
These accomplishments are made even more enjoyable by the fact that there were lots of people who told us they could never be done.
Best of luck to all of you, it has been a true honor.