Unfortunate offense casts a shadow across district’s board
Legend’s View
Justifiably, DUI laws are strictly carried out against offenders, and the same consequences will apply to Maricopa Community College District Board President Colleen Clark.Clark, 26, revealed in a recent board meeting that she was arrested for DUI charges this past July.
The arrest was not disclosed until after Clark had voted for and signed $1.14 million “Efficiency Study” contract. This vote, curiously enough, also occurred in late July, and Clark was the deciding vote for the study amongst a sharply divided board.
While she may be granted a learning curve at 26, bearing in mind her high position in the MCCCD, perhaps she should have factored in consequences first.
With great responsibility comes a need for accountability, her position does not merit any special treatment.
According to the police report, Clark failed nearly every test given; she couldn’t touch her finger to her nose, couldn’t stand on one foot, couldn’t walk a straight line, and recited her ABCs, “A, B, C, D… L, U, G, A, K, Z, U, P, L, M, N, O, P.”
Although she claimed she had only consumed “two glasses of red wine” with her
dinner, upon arrest Clark’s breathalyzer test resulted in a .143, just shy of an extreme DUI charge.
As a young graduate student herself, Clark can be seen as a role model to many of the college students she presides over.
Clark will receive due punishment from the law, and not her employers. She will plead guilty to her charges and accept due punishment, and in an interview with Mesa Legend News Editor Jessica Smith Clark stated, “Every decision we make counts, and has a profound impact beyond what we can fully comprehend at that moment.”
Clark did not validate her crime in any way, instead she encouraged students to make sound decisions, realizing that every decision they make will construct consequences.
Regardless of punishment in the court, Clark is also accountable to her constituents. There are consequences for this type of behavior in the court of public opinion.
This offense has cast a shadow across the whole Board; while Clark is a valuable member there is need to restore some measure of dignity to the district. With added pressure from the Higher Learning Commission report, Clark may need to relinquish her position as Board president to make amends.
