COMMUNITY COMMENTARY
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a statement Newport-Mesa Unified
School District trustee Wendy Leece made at Tuesday’s board meeting.
Leece has been the only board member to call on her colleague, Jim
Ferryman, to resign after charges were brought against him for being
suspected of driving under the influence when he was involved in an
accident last month. She sent it to the Pilot while emphasizing that it
is not meant as a personal attack, but rather as a reminder that she and
her fellow board members do face public scrutiny.
This is all about leadership, and I would like to be able to take this
debate to a higher level.
It is not about a person, it is about all of us, myself included.
Being on the board as a trustee is not a career -- we are all public
servants and serve our community nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, “on call,” having been elected by a majority of fellow citizens.
Character does matter, and I think this situation is a time to restore
morality in the public square at the local level. Values are not relative
to public service: Situational or circumstantial ethics don’t exist for
school board trustees.
As leaders, we need to lead and, yes, our personal lives are the
community’s business. We should be held to public scrutiny. When we go to
Target or Trader Joe’s or drive down the street, we all know people are
watching us all of the time.
We as adults should act consistently with the honor and responsibility
given us and have our personal life under control. In the end, it is
really up to the community -- not just those in our “zone” -- to decide
if we continue serving.
* WENDY LEECE is Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustee and a
Westside resident.
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