COMMUNITY COMMENTARY -- Ila Johnson

In an interesting development, school board trustee Jim Ferryman,

scheduled to be arraigned in Harbor Justice Center on charges related to

driving under the influence, exercised his option not to appear and

dispatched his attorney to request a continuance of the case. The

arraignment was continued to Nov. 29.

What does Ferryman hope to buy with the additional time before

entering a plea? Does he hope that the public fervor surrounding the

charges will simply fade away and become just another one-line account on

the back page of the paper? Or perhaps he hopes for the outside chance

that the court will lose his paperwork and (poof) no more case. That

would be good. But then Ferryman would never have the opportunity to

“benefit from consequences of my act that will probably include

suspension of my license, probation and counseling,” as he has said he

expects to do, (The Bell Curve -- “Ferryman Wants To Finish What He

Started,” Oct. 25) and “to serve as a positive role model by facing

squarely up to what I did.” By requesting a continuance, it seems rather

obvious that Ferryman does not intend to face “squarely up” to what he

did. One does not request a continuance of an arraignment with the

intention of facing up to anything.

Since I have referenced the column by Joseph N. Bell, I would also

like to add that, as one of those to whom Bell refers as having “the

absurd notion -- often rooted in a disapproval of drinking itself -- that

defending Ferryman somehow implied a lack of proper condemnation of drunk

driving,” I hold no such disapproval of drinking itself. I enjoy a glass

of good wine and, on occasion, a good Manhattan and the social settings

that accompany them. What I do wholeheartedly disapprove of is throwing

down a bunch of drinks and then getting behind the wheel of an

automobile.

I stand behind my opinion that that is not a sentiment universally

held. This belief is confirmed and evidenced by those who are of the

opinion that Ferryman’s past contributions to the community cancel out

this “one mistake.”

* ILA JOHNSON is a Costa Mesa resident who ran for a seat on the

school board in November 2000.