With a push for tougher laws against drunken driving almost a certainty next year in the state Legislature, Wisconsin now has its poster boy for Wisconsin's problem. Unfortunately, that poster boy is in the State Assembly.
Rep. Jeff Wood of Bloomer was arrested early last Friday for drunken driving and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Before being arrested, Wood drove onto the center median, drifted into a snowbank and smashed through a caution sign, going airborne before careening back onto the road. Then he kept on driving at erratic speeds, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, until he was pulled over a few minutes later.
Wood, who admitted he was a recovering alcoholic when he first ran for Assembly in 1996, had been at a Madison bar Thursday night. He said he accepted marijuana and a pipe someone offered him before getting into his car to drive home. His blood-alcohol level was 0.15 - nearly twice the legal limit in Wisconsin - when he was arrested.
Wood apologized on Monday, calling his behavior "irresponsible."
"There is no excuse for my actions, and I accept full responsibility," Wood said. He resigned his recently awarded chairmanship of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee - a powerful post he was given by Speaker-elect Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, as a reward for leaving the Republican Party to become an independent. But Wood did not resign his Assembly seat, saying "I think I can do my job effectively."
Maybe so, but Wood should leave the Assembly.
Wisconsin is the only state where a first-offense drunken driving is treated as a civil offense instead of a crime. It's laws are notoriously soft, and the result is that Wisconsin has the unwelcome distinction of leading the nation in drunken driving. An excellent series of stories by the Journal Sentinel detailed county by county the devastating personal effects of drunken driving - renewing a call for the enacting of stiffer laws. Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, told the Times before his re-election last month that discussion of drunken driving legislation would be prominent in the Legislature's next session.
For Wood to continue serving in a position of public trust after this incident, at a time lawmakers would be working to crack down on drunken driving, would send a hypocritical and wrong message.
Wood should send the proper message - that the serious offense of drunken driving (along with drug possession) carries with it serious personal and professional consequences. He should set an example by resigning from the Assembly.
Rep. Jeff Wood of Bloomer was arrested early last Friday for drunken driving and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Before being arrested, Wood drove onto the center median, drifted into a snowbank and smashed through a caution sign, going airborne before careening back onto the road. Then he kept on driving at erratic speeds, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, until he was pulled over a few minutes later.
Wood, who admitted he was a recovering alcoholic when he first ran for Assembly in 1996, had been at a Madison bar Thursday night. He said he accepted marijuana and a pipe someone offered him before getting into his car to drive home. His blood-alcohol level was 0.15 - nearly twice the legal limit in Wisconsin - when he was arrested.
Wood apologized on Monday, calling his behavior "irresponsible."
"There is no excuse for my actions, and I accept full responsibility," Wood said. He resigned his recently awarded chairmanship of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee - a powerful post he was given by Speaker-elect Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, as a reward for leaving the Republican Party to become an independent. But Wood did not resign his Assembly seat, saying "I think I can do my job effectively."
Maybe so, but Wood should leave the Assembly.
Wisconsin is the only state where a first-offense drunken driving is treated as a civil offense instead of a crime. It's laws are notoriously soft, and the result is that Wisconsin has the unwelcome distinction of leading the nation in drunken driving. An excellent series of stories by the Journal Sentinel detailed county by county the devastating personal effects of drunken driving - renewing a call for the enacting of stiffer laws. Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, told the Times before his re-election last month that discussion of drunken driving legislation would be prominent in the Legislature's next session.
For Wood to continue serving in a position of public trust after this incident, at a time lawmakers would be working to crack down on drunken driving, would send a hypocritical and wrong message.
Wood should send the proper message - that the serious offense of drunken driving (along with drug possession) carries with it serious personal and professional consequences. He should set an example by resigning from the Assembly.
