The Jefferson County Republican Committee has called for the resignation of Republican State Treasurer Dennis Milligan.
The call follows Milligan's firing of David Singer, a vice chair of the committee, though a release said it was not related to that, but rather to Milligan's performance in office. Singer has sued Milligan for defamation. Stu Soffer, a party member who's posted on our blog about Milligan, distributed the release to media. It reads:
The Jefferson County Republican Committee voted to call for the resignation of State Treasurer Dennis Milligan. There were no opposing votes to the motion. A discussion about displeasure with Milligan’s performance in office began at the April meeting and was tabled after (now former employee and committee first vice chairman) David Singer spent almost 20 minutes defending Milligan. Singer was terminated by Milligan’s Chief of Staff Jim Harris four days later with no reason given. The decision to call for Milligan’s resignation was made at the May meeting based on additional information; none of which was related to Singer’s termination. Singer recused himself from the discussion and motion, and offered to resign from the county committee to avoid the appearance the resignation call was retaliation for his wrongful termination. This action is not about Singer’s termination, it is about not restoring trust to the Treasurer’s Office. The letter was
mailed to Milligan on June 1st and a copy is attached for your information.
The letter follows:
Dear Treasurer Milligan:
I write to express the disappointment of county committee members for your betrayal of our confidence and trust. Your actions have failed to restore integrity to the office and have become an embarrassment to your supporters. In the words of a volunteer who put up many of your campaign signs, and was also a donor, “This is not why we worked so hard to get him elected.” Your campaign promised to bring back trust, dignity, and integrity to a State Office that had been abused by the former Treasurer.
Your actions, or more appropriately, failure to take necessary positive actions, regrettably leaves us no choice but to call for your resignation. Timely departure is necessary for the good of the State of Arkansas and before you cause those who supported you any more embarrassment.
Sincerely,
Peter J. Smykla, Jr.
County Chairman
Milligan has had a headline-marked first four months in office. He illegally hired a cousin. Controversy arose over campaign work done by current staffers while they worked during the campaign for the American Cancer Society, which discouraged political activities by the nonprofit's employees. He's been busy cleaning up campaign reports that didn't accurately report payments to his current staffer Jason Brady. He had to get a waiver from a new state law to hire Jim Harris, who was otherwise unqualified to be his chief of staff. He recently settled a lawsuit over the firing of an employee in a previous elected position in Saline County. He began, than rescinded, an email destruction policy. He's ousted previous vendors and gave one contract to the son of an office employee, Gary Underwood, who'd recently transferred the company to his son. He severed ties with another former campaign supporter, Rick Meyer. And probably more.
I've sought a comment from his office.
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