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Williams Urged To Keep Burke

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Parent Issue
Day
31
Month
December
Year
1948
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Williams Urged To Keep Burke
Civil Service Chairman Praises 'Excellent Work Of Ann Arbor Member
By William Kulsea
(News Lansing Bureau) LANSING - Reappointment of George J. Burke of Ann Arbor, Democratic member of the State Civil Service Commission, was urged today by William Palmer of Lansing, commission chairman and also a Democrat.
Burke's eight-year term on the commission expires Dec. 31, and G. Mennen Williams, governor-elect, has made no commitment as to whether he will re-appoint the. Ann Arbor Democrat.
Palmer said he has talked to Williams about Burke and his "excellent work” on the commission since his appointment to it by former Gov. Murray D. Van Wagoner in 1941. 'One Of Best Members
“Burke is one of the best commissioners we have," said Palmer. "His knowledge of civil service over the years, including his work prior to 1941 in the cause of civil service, makes him a good member.”
It is understood pressure is being exerted on Williams to put either a member representing the CIO, or a woman, on the commission.
Burke declined to comment outside of saying that he would consider any possible reappointment move in the light of his personal affairs after the first of the year.
He was the first chairman of the Constitutional Civil Service Commission and did much to charter the course of the merit system in its infant days. He and Alex J. Groesbeck, former governor and member of the commission, were the "strong men” of the commission. Groesbeck split with Burke and the rest of the four-man board and resigned in 1944 in a scrap over salary policies. 1 Burke's chief interest, in his decisions and discussions of state employee problems, was in giving the taxpayers and the employees a fair deal.