Kennedy Joins In Urging Burke Not To Quit Civil Service Board

James A. Kennedy, Ann Arbor attorney who served on the study group which drew up and sponsored the civil service amendment ratified in 1940, yesterday added his support to the movement urging George Jo Burke to “reconsider” his resignation from the Michigan Civil Service Commission.
In a letter to Burke, who has served on the commission since its establishment, Kennedy stated he hoped "some way can be found to persuade you ... to continue the outstanding work you have been doing."
Mr. Kennedy's letter to Mr. Burke follows:
August 27, 1946 Mr. George J. Burke Ann Arbor Trust Building Ann Arbor, Michigan Dear George:
I have read with the deepest regret the newspaper account of your resignation from the Michigan Civil Service Commission. For the lasting good of the merit system in Michigan I can only hope that some way can be found to persuade you to reconsider and to continue the outstanding work you have been doing.
I am sure it is generally recognized that the value of our merit system in Michigan depends in a large measure upon the commissioners who administer it.
You have brought to the Commission during a most trying period a keen understanding, a calm restraint and an unalterable integrity that have been of incalculable value in shaping the difficult new program. You have worked without compensation-in one instance during a solid three-week period. You have never presented a request for even a penny of reimbursement for your own out-of pocket expenses, although clearly entitled to do so. All this has been done with a quiet modesty which is singularly refreshing in the field of government. No wonder the people of Michigan feel that in you they have found a perfect public servant.
I know the problem is one requiring answer by you alone and that you will bring your best wisdom to its solution. However, I do want you to know that those of us who sponsored the Civil Service amendment hope ardently that you will continue the work of which we have been so proud.
Sincerely yours,
James A. Kennedy.