The legislative ethics committee says Bedford house member, John Kerns, ought to be removed from office. Kerns was accused of - among other things - using his position to intimidate others strictly for personal gain. No elected official has been removed for ethics violations since 1913.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers has more.
The ethics committee says John Edward Kerns used his office to threaten people and to advance his interests in a manner incompatible with the public good. Acting committee chairman Ned Gordon said the facts of the case spoke for themselves....The harder work was to come to terms with the punishment.
"That was very difficult for people to deal with ... specifically because...if you are going to take such a large action as recommending that someone be expelled from the house there has to be a substantial threshold for that to happen."
The specific charges against Kerns include his threats of official retaliation against a Dover school official who refused to grant the 23 year old lawmaker permission to park in a reserved municipal lot...Kerns also bounced a couple of personal checks... That wasn't an offense in itself... But he had had the checks printed with the phrase "State of NH" on them... The suggestion was that they were somehow backed by the state. The committee said this was conduct brought dishonor on the house of representative... For his part, Kerns says he's been railroaded.
"I did not have a change to present my side of the story ...except in writing... and I will not allow myself to get impeached I will not allow myself to get impeached. I don't think the standard of allegations warrants it... And I won't allow it. I will seek relief in the courts and I believe relief can be found based upon the injunction that was filed."
Kerns claims that a medical condition caused what he called erratic behavior... and prevented him from appearing before the ethics committee. The committee said it found no medical evidence to support his argument........The full house is scheduled to vote on Kerns's expulsion on March 11th... But Kerns says if lawmakers stay that course he'll resign first.
