The embarrassment "continued"

I am sorry for not writing sooner about what happened with Ted Triebel's drunk driving case earlier this week, but I had a mid-term for my grad school program yesterday. I had hoped the press would cover this, but I guess that was too much to ask.

Until I have a chance to write more, here is an update:

Ted's case was "continued" until May 19th, apparently because the test results were not back from the SBI lab in time for court on Tuesday morning.

So, the embarrassment of having a school board member charged with drunk driving will continue for another three months.

Unless, of course, Ted does the honorable thing and resigns from the Board before he does any more damage to its reputation.

Honesty, Openness, Hard Work, Integrity and (alleged) Drunk Driving

"I value honesty, openness, hard work, and integrity. If elected, I promise to bring those qualities to the School Board."
- Ted Triebel (quoted from his 2006 Board of Education campaign brochure)

Many people know that Orange County Board of Education Member Ted Triebel was in an auto accident this past November. Many also know that he was injured in that accident.

What few - if any - knew before today's Durham Herald-Sun was that Ted was cited by the State Highway Patrol for DWI in that accident.

[Update: WRAL.com posted a notice of Ted's DUI charges on Feb. 12 and The News of Orange County posted a short blurb on Feb. 13. The posting by The News of Orange County says to expect "more information" in Wednesday's edition.}

According to the article, Ted and his wife both admitted that he had been drinking before getting behind the wheel (without his seat belt) and crashing his car.

Below you can see the citation issued as a result of the accident.

On the right side you can clearly see that the responding Trooper marked line 5, stating that there was "probable cause to believe" Ted "did unlawfully and willfully operate a (motor) vehicle on a street or highway while subject to an impairing substance" in violation of NC law - in short, Drunk Driving.

Of course, Ted (like his predecessor as Chairman of the Orange County Board of Education) is innocent until either found guilty or (like Dennis) he admits his crimes. However, I find it hard to believe that a State Trooper would go to the trouble of writing such a citation at a single-vehicle accident unless confident of his "probable cause."

Ted will have his time in court to respond to the charges against him, and according to the North Carolina Court System, that time is 9:00 am on Tuesday, February 24.

Unless Ted is fully exonerated by the District Court, (and I don't mean a plea to a lesser charge) the Board of Education must attempt to salvage some of its credibility by initiating a Full Board Review as outlined in its own Code of Ethics and immediately remove Ted from the Board for what the Code calls "immoral or disreputable conduct."

Hopefully, it will not come to that and Ted will follow Dennis Whitling's example and immediately resign his position for the good of the Board and Orange County Schools.