Originally posted 04/12/07
With almost twenty years gone by the date eludes me some. I know it was August, and I think it was 1987, that I was arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI). I was 25 years old and leaving a party at a friend’s house in the Valley and getting ready to get on the 101 freeway when a CHP officer pulled me over, did a field sobriety test that I failed, put handcuffs on me and strapped me into the front seat of his cruiser.
I was taken to what I believe is the County Jail in Van Nuys and handcuffed to a bench with my hands behind my back. Within minutes two young Asian men, given their dress and tattoos I assumed then and still assume they were gang members, were handcuffed to the same bench, one on each side. They shouted at each other in a language I could not comprehend and started trying to kick each other—not very effective at hitting their targets but somewhat successful at landing some blows to my knees and legs.
After a while, perhaps twenty minutes, I was led to the booking area, signed a waiver and they drew blood to get my alcohol level, had my fingerprints and mug shot taken. I was then led to a small room, very small perhaps seven by seven, with a door with a very small window in it, a pay phone and a bench. The bench was occupied by a very small man, also Asian, who was very disheveled and insisted on conversing with me about how he should not be there. I was in jail.
I called my friend Chuck Smith, whose daytime housewarming party I was at all day, to tell him I was in jail, my car was probably impounded and was he or his wife okay to possibly come bail me out. Thankfully they showed up and I was released in about two hours—I think. Because I was intoxicated and it was two decades again the time frames get blurry but I was pulled over about seven o’clock and we got back to Chuck’s house about eleven or midnight as I recall.
A short time later I received a notice to appear in Los Angeles County Court for an arraignment on the charge of DUI with a blood alcohol level of 0.12 (limit at the time was still 0.10). I called a lawyer friend who asked if I was drunk, I said yes I had been, and he advised me to save the money on legal fees, go to court and plead nolo contendere, Latin for “I will not contest it.” I was fined, ordered to attend a State approved counseling program that lasted four to six months and Alcoholic Anonymous meetings weekly or semi-weekly for that time frame as well. My license was restricted to driving to and from work only. Further, I had the arrest on my record and if I was picked up again for DUI within a seven or eight year time frame it would be considered a second offense with much more serious punishment.
This was perhaps one of the best events in my life as it resulted in a necessary behavior change for me. While I was not a big partier, I would go to friends on the weekends in the South Bay or elsewhere, drink beer and drive home. Too many nights I was more than eligible for a DUI. I was not a binge drinker, nor addicted to alcohol, but I did have several beers with my buddies and drive. Thankfully I never crashed and no one was ever hurt, or worse killed. After that experience I would not drink and drive for a long time and slowly over the years accepted that if I am driving I must limit my alcohol intake for the safety of others, and to ensure that my kids have a Dad around the house while they grow up.
During the counseling sessions what amazed me was that others in our group, almost all of them, would complain about a “bad bust” and “how they advertise beer on freeway signs inviting us to drink and then arrest us when we do” and “there’s no good transportation so I had to drive” and on and on, blaming everything and everyone but themselves. Lack of personal responsibility and accountability abounded, and not surprisingly the statistics of repeat offenders for DUI because of their failure to take responsibility for their actions reflect this.
Why am I telling you this? Because I do not want to be seen as hypocritical or, to use a word that was very important to a segment of our community last year during an election cycle, I want to be transparent in my comments to follow. I broke the law, I was arrested, I did not challenge the arrest and accepted the consequences for my actions and learned from my experience. I did not ignore the arrest nor feel I was above the law and blame others.
As reported in the Press-Telegram over the past week or so Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education member Michael Ellis is facing a May 1, 2007 hearing for DUI. In and of itself this one arrest can be chalked up to stupidity and considerable bad judgment on his part; as I was in 1987. One can and should assume this is not the first time he was impaired while driving a vehicle because the odds of doing this just once and getting caught that one time are astronomical, but legally all that matters is the one instance when according to reports in the paper he was passed out behind the wheel at Westminster and Seal Beach Blvd. around 3:30 a.m. letting two cycles of green lights go without moving. Thank goodness during his slumber the vehicle did not roll into the intersection to get hit by some mother coming home from a late shift at a local establishment that closes in the early hours, or a college student on the way to open up a business he where works to pay tuition, or any other driver.
This one instance, while troublesome, does not bother me that much, probably because I am guilty of having a similar lapse of judgment. What bothers me is that since 1989 Mr. Ellis has had numerous citations and fines concerning operating vehicles according to reports in the Press-Telegram. Further, of these incidents it appears three were for driving with a suspended license. Mr. Ellis has exhibited a pattern of ignoring the law. I am sure he has a “valid” excuse for each of these incidents—leaving the scene of an accident, violating court orders and driving with a suspended license—however it seems that he routinely ignores the law as a matter of behavior. Again, I assume that he was constantly driving with a suspended license and just happened to be stopped one time and not that he only drove the one time and happened to be pulled over—astronomical odds.
So is Mr. Ellis ignorant as to the meaning of the law and what a suspension means? Or is he arrogant and feels he is above the law?In an email to the paper that was released in print Mr. Ellis feels the publicity attracted by his most recent recorded vehicle violation was a vendetta by the Press-Telegram who supported his opponent in the race for school board member. Poppy-cock to that. He also states he will not resign his position seeing nothing in connection to his record that makes him unfit to represent his district (I think he meant the teacher’s union).
Mr. Ellis was put into the district he represents on the school board by the Teachers’ Association of Long Beach (TALB) whose members and money campaigned and got him elected—prior to the campaign Mr. Ellis did not live in the district he represents. As such Mr. Ellis is “their guy”, whose opinions and votes more than reflect the agenda TALB has created for him and fellow School Board member David Barton. TALB leadership is vehement in its opposition to the district’s administration and on one of the websites it owns (deviously labeled lbusd.com to attract surfers looking for the official Long Beach Unified School District site) criticizes the members of the Board of Education who are not their “guys” and to push for “teacher’s rights”. If Mr. Ellis resigns it opens up the seat for an election and TALB will lose their guy and face the chance of someone who will represent the best interest of the families and students in the district getting elected. TALB spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last election to elect two of the three candidates they put into districts and on the ballots—allegedly mortgaging their building to do so. All in their stated interest of “representing teachers and giving them a voice.” Given the recent turnout for their election for a new President (less than 30%) it appears the overwhelming majority of their members do not care to voice their opinion for their own leadership—I wonder how they feel about so much money being spent on political activism to support someone who ignores the law.
Amazingly none of Mr. Ellis’ problems are on the TALB site or mentioned in the blogs or other anti-LBUSD site(s) they run. Why?Where is the transparency they demanded and claimed was not present? Is there any doubt that if one of the top administrators or other members of the board were in a similar position they would be screaming for resignations or firings?
I would like to see several results occur: 1) Mr. Ellis resign from his position as a show of dignity to the teachers he represents—they are trying to teach your children and mine about social responsibility and accountability and the representative that was elected with their money needs to practice what they preach. 2) Failing his resignation the voters in his district circulate a recall petition and vote for his recall. 3) The vast majority of teachers who did not speak with their votes in their last union election find their voices and take back their union. The relationship between TALB and LBUSD used to be a model relationship for the country, since the change in leadership the past several years TALB has been hijacked by activists with a focus on power and divisiveness.
Ignorance is easier to forgive than arrogance, repeated ignorance combined with arrogance however are not the traits that make a capable leader—is this not what most of those who have been opposed to President Bush have been saying? If so then these same people should be clamoring for the departure of Mr. Ellis from the School Board and making decisions that affect our children.