By Robert Perea
I learned a long time ago to never be surprised by anything. But somehow that still doesn’t keep me from getting caught off guard.
That’s what happened Monday. I was ahead of schedule for a change, on track to have all of my work finished on Monday night, when an email from Lyon County Sheriff Brad Pope hit my inbox with the subject line “Fernley City Councilman Arrested.”
I didn’t have that on my bingo card for the week. The details of the press release regarding the arrest of Councilman Stan Lau on a battery charge are in the story and I’m not going to rehash them here or debate what should happen next. The judicial system will decide what, if any, legal repercussions Lau will face. I’m also not going to join the chorus calling for Lau to resign, at least until the case is adjudicated, because that’s how due process in this country works.
I also understand that many of the people calling for Lau to resign are not just basing that on this incident, but on a pattern of behavior that includes several verbal outbursts toward other council members and the mayor during council meetings, as well as accusations of other incidents that I’m not privy to or aware of.
What I will say is that this is one example that reminds you how quickly public service can collide with personal impulse. Regardless of whether this was Lau or any other elected official, public trust is fragile, and even more so in the current polarized political climate.
Power doesn’t always come with restraint. In fact, it might actually erode restraint. That thought lingered as I typed “City council member arrested” into a search bar, expecting a handful of outliers. Instead, I found a parade of mugshots and misdemeanors—DUIs, fraud, even one council member detained by ICE. That one, I admit, did surprise me.
Whatever the outcome is with Lau, this case is a reminder that we expect our elected official to be civil. Although the deputies who arrested Lau said they saw no physical evidence of a punch, if the charges against Lau are true, he may not have left a physical bruise, but he definitely left a civic black eye.
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