By Mark David Blum, Esq.

As a well known longtime outspoken critic who has never once contributed a dime nor sipped a drink with you, I have to come out and do the unthinkable. I must beg you to stay. Please do not run for Congress.

On one level, I would relish your being elected to congress. It would be a godsend to the market. ‘Change’ in the office of District Attorney would be a good thing. The thought of you winning your campaign for Congress and moving your business to Washington warms the cockles of my heart. Shocked that you were seriously considering a run to replace Congressman Walsh, my first thought was to immediately form a “Fitzpatrick for Congress Committee” and work like a dog to see you elected.

Over the past few days however that concept has mulled and stewed and fermented and the more I think about it, the more I must confess that you should not run for Congress. As a servant of the People, the question of where your talents best lie is answered by your tenure as District Attorney. Whatever may be your faults, you have served the People well and done your job viciously. At times we feel that perhaps you fail to temper justice with mercy, but that is a different discussion for another forum.

Hypothetically, should a campaign for Congress succeed, I think you will have reached your Peter Principle. First, you will no longer be in the Executive Branch and not be “in charge”. Instead, your voice would be diluted by 434 others; many with far more seniority than you. In Congress, ‘seniority’ is everything and you will be back at the bottom. With upcoming cleansing and purging of the Houses of Government of Republicans, I fear your voice would be lost in the wilderness. Whatever may be your talents and skills, I do not see you as being likely to capitulate and negotiate with those also playing a zero sum game.

It would seem your skills and talents are better suited in the position for which you have been elected. If I put on a ‘law and order’ hat for a moment and if given a choice, I would rather you be executing the laws than making them. You do run a successful office and definitely have the heart (or lack thereof?) of a prosecutor. Congress is for the lawmakers. The District Attorney is the one who implements.

To me, Mr. Fitzpatrick, you seem to be more a doer than a dealmaker. Your talents are far better suited in the Glass House than in the Legislative House. If given a choice, as a public servant, I prefer you to serve the People by walking the halls of the Court House and not the Halls of Congress.

No doubt for you, the change in jobs would be interesting and quite a feather in your cap. The financial rewards and political power would be exponentially greater than that you already possess.

But if you are the man you claimed to be during your campaign, then be “Fitzpatrick for the People”. Stay put in the D.A.’s Office where you are well suited. If you do otherwise, some of us might conclude you are not so much “for the People” as you are for yourself – not that there is anything wrong with that.