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.