Picking [on] Joe Miller

WC has said before he is no fan of Senator Lisa Murkowski. But Joe Miller’s increasingly strange positions merit additional comment. Some points:

1. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Joe Miller’s resignation as a part-time, assistant Borough Attorney. There’s rumors Miller accused the Borough Attorney of ethical violations. WC thinks Fairbanks North Star Borough Attorney Rene Broker is one of the most ethical and scrupulous attorneys in Fairbanks. She was also Joe Miller’s boss. If it comes to Miller claiming unethical conduct by her, Wickersham’s Conscience thinks voters need to look at the person slinging the mud.

2. Part of being a professional is doing the work it takes to protect the client, even if it means sacrificing long-planned trips. WC would have caught a lot more steelhead trout in his career, and spent more Christmas holidays with his family, if vacations trumped the obligation to get the work done on deadline for the client. It’s part of being a professional. Rumor has it Miller quit, at least in part, because he was asked to work when he had a “long-planned elk hunt.” Think it over: would you want a Senator who missed a key vote because he had a “long-planned elk hunt”?

3. Miller’s campaign issued a statement:

Joe Miller and the Campaign will not allow the borough to hide behind the attorney-client privilege when he needs to describe the reasons why he voluntarily left,” the statement said. “Joe Miller’s seven-year record with the Fairbanks North Star Borough was second to none.

Oh, please. Some very skilled, very competent lawyers have worked in the Borough Attorney’s Office. This is even more arrogant than Miller’s earlier claim to have “mastered the law” in three years (a claim that has been excised from his recently buffed website). Joe Miller’s service as a part-time assistant Borough Attorney is second to, say, Jim Nordale’s, or Rene Broker’s. Humility remains an unexplored territory to candidate Miller. WC doesn’t think we need more arrogance in our elected officials.

4. Miller is hiding the ball. Andy Halcro and others are suspicious of the circumstances of Miller’s departure from the Borough. Miller has been less than forthcoming. Let’s be clear: Miller has the absolute right to obtain his Borough personnel file and to make it public. Any parts contained privileged materials can be redacted. He has chosen not to do so. Instead, he has engaged in misdirection, claiming he can’t talk about his departure from the Borough because the Borough has failed to waive the attorney-client privilege. His explanation is not responsive. It’s not an explanation. It gives rise to the inference that he has something to hide.

This is best the Tea Baggers and the Ex-Gov can do? Someone who has held at least six different jobs in 15 years? Private lawyer, magistrate, acting judge, federal magistrate, assistant borough attorney, private attorney; and this person wants a job that requires at least six years of hard work. Multiple six year terms to acquire seniority. On the evidence, candidate Miller’s attention span is about 2.5 years. Not 6 or 12 or 18 years.

The voters can do better. A lot better. WC thinks they can hardly do worse. Don’t let the outside Tea Baggers buy Alaska. Vote for somebody else.

UPDATE: Miller has released both his resignation letter and a confused/confusing letter from his attorney to special counsel for the Borough. The letter confirms Miller’s resignation was in fact because assigned work would interfere with his vacation plans. WC is sorry, but WC looks for a lot more professionalism and a lot more concern for clients in lawyers who are candidates for public office. Miller’s releases argue forcefully in favor of voting for someone else.

SECOND UPDATE: The News-Miner’s Dermot Cole has joined those calling for Miller to release his personnel file.