Sympathy Gone Too Far

Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Hernandez received a hero’s welcome on Tuesday when he returned to City Hall for the first time since his August arrest for cocaine possession. Supporters clapped. Community leaders from his district cheered. Recovering alcoholics applauded. School children chanted, “We love Mike!” But this display of support for the disgraced councilman does not make him fit for the job. We repeat, Hernandez should resign.

He is a public official and should be a role model. His drug arrest and his admission of drug and alcohol abuse disqualify him for office at this time. He should go quietly and get on with the very personal and private business of recovering from his addictions on his own time, not while he is on the public payroll.

After the news broke that police surveillance had spotted Hernandez purchasing cocaine on 10 occasions, City Controller Rick Tuttle authorized a review of the councilman’s salary, travel, expense and contingency accounts, those used for hosting events and other legitimate purposes. The controller’s office found nothing that justified a full-scale audit and no expenses that Hernandez could have easily converted into personal cash. The city Ethics Commission, however, is still auditing Hernandez’s 1997 spending and, properly, the results will be made public.

Even if Hernandez is cleared of misusing official funds, the demand for his departure from office remains just. The councilman has admitted that he bought and used cocaine, an illegal substance.

He broke the public trust.

An apologetic Hernandez insists he’ll be a better public servant now that he’s owned up to his alcoholism and his cocaine problem. But owning up is still some distance from recovery. There are no overnight miracles in these cases.

Councilman Hernandez deserves support in his recovery. What he doesn’t deserve is a standing ovation in City Council chambers.

The people of Los Angeles should demand that elected officials uphold high standards of behavior. No amount of addiction newspeak can erase this fact: What Mike Hernandez did would very likely have cost him his job and certainly his status if he were not a councilman. Is City Hall the only place where such standards do not apply?