A drunk driving charge doesn’t always mean unemployment. After all, not every job requires driving. However, politicians must consider the optics of their actions, like getting a DUI charge after crashing a government-owned vehicle. Still, even with an event like that, one Pennsylvania county commissioner decided that resignation simply isn’t the right move. 

A county commissioner says he won’t resign his elected position after he crashed a county vehicle while drunk driving

Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Home to Hershey, Harrisburg, and George Hartwick, a county commissioner with a pretty substantial blemish on his record. He wasn’t a core part of a sex scandal or bribery. No, Hartwick drank half a bottle of vodka, got behind the wheel of a car, and crashed.

To make things worse, Hartwick crashed a county government-owned vehicle, not his personal ride. Worse yet, Hartwick crashed the car in a county parking garage on his way to a commissioner’s meeting, per WGAL8. To paraphrase The Office’s Michael Scott, it was with government property on government property. Bonus points? Understandably, police charged Hartwick with a DUI after the crash. 

But here’s the kicker. Even though Hartwick crashed a government vehicle on government property and received a drunk driving charge, he says he won’t resign. Classy move. “I’m not going anywhere,” Hartwick said. “I am back to do what the taxpayers and those voters in Dauphin County elected me to do, which is to dig in and provide a high level of service that they’ve become accustomed to and to support our county employees who are busting their butt.”

However, his opinion isn’t shared by all of his colleagues. Another county commissioner, Justin Douglas, called for him to step down from his elected position. “At this critical time in government, we need to expect more from our leaders, not less,” Douglas said. “This is not a conclusion I’ve come to lightly. But the pattern is undeniable, and it must be addressed. For those reasons, I am calling on Commissioner George Hartwick to resign his position.” 

By the numbers, the crime looks even worse. A 750ml bottle of vodka contains around 17 standard drinks at 1.5 ounces per drink. That means Hartwick had around eight or nine drinks before getting behind the wheel, per the court documentation. For a man over 200 lbs, that could result in a blood alcohol concentration of around 0.15%.