EDITORIAL : HERNANDEZ MUST GO COUNCIL MEMBERS CHICK AND FEUER SHOWED LEADERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY BY URGING HERNANDEZ TO RESIGN.WELL done, Laura Chick and Mike Feuer.The two Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. members finally broke the council's deafening deaf·en·ing adj. Extremely loud. Idiom: deafening silence A silence or lack of response that reveals something significant, such as disapproval or a lack of enthusiasm. code of silence Thursday and called on Councilman Mike Hernandez to step down. It is the first time any council members have asked Hernandez to resign since he was arrested in August on suspicion of cocaine possession. Chick and Feuer showed sound judgment and leadership. Too bad their colleagues couldn't do the same. Hernandez reacted defiantly, refusing to step aside. Apparently he believes if he keeps his nose clean, it's the same as if he'd never been caught. Wrong. Hernandez is scheduled to appear in court Monday. He is expected to enter a guilty plea and enter a drug-diversion program which, once successfully completed, will enable him to avoid jail and a criminal record. Again we say Hernandez is to be commended for seeking treatment and getting his life in order. But the 43-year-old councilman has admitted to a lifelong battle with the bottle in addition to owning up that he bought and used cocaine. Claiming a few weeks of treatment proves he is conquering his addiction is ludicrous. Hernandez is proving not his fitness to serve public office, but his inability to distinguish right from wrong. He seems emboldened em·bold·en tr.v. em·bold·ened, em·bold·en·ing, em·bold·ens To foster boldness or courage in; encourage. See Synonyms at encourage. Adj. 1. by the council's acquiescence Conduct recognizing the existence of a transaction and intended to permit the transaction to be carried into effect; a tacit agreement; consent inferred from silence. . And that makes Chick's and Feuer's public pronouncement so important. Chick spoke the truth when she said the council's silence sends a ``potent message to the public that we condone condone v. 1) to forgive, support, and/or overlook moral or legal failures of another without protest, with the result that it appears that such breaches of moral or legal duties are acceptable. what you have done.'' Council members must be held to a higher degree of standards and accountability. Otherwise, why not allow everyone to break the law and get off? Say, a schoolteacher, for example. If a councilman can be exonerated and protected in his job, then why shouldn't the same hold true for the Burbank high school Burbank High School may refer to:
In the wake of the arrest of the Burbank teacher, the no-standards, no-consequences argument pushed by Hernandez and his apologists becomes all the more untenable. Do the right thing, Councilman Hernandez: Resign. |
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