Editorials
Sen. Coffee should resign his position
In his book on leadership, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani tells his initial solution to what appeared to be a hopeless crime problem in New York City. His strategy was to not only pay attention to the big crimes but to start paying greater attention to the small, almost insignificant ones, like jaywalking.
In doing so his police department found that arresting people for misdemeanors often led to arrests of criminals who had perpetrated much bigger offenses such as armed robbery and murder.
And while no one in Oklahoma would accuse State Senate chief Glenn Coffee of heinous crimes, it still seems apropos to not let him get away with the little stuff either. The IRS filed a lien against the Senator and his wife for over $28,000, which Coffee belatedly paid. The Oklahoman quotes Coffee as admitting to having made a dumb mistake.
Admitting it and apologizing for it to his colleagues is a good step in the right direction, but what else was he going to do after the news hit the light of day?
Of course he was going to do that. He had no choice.
Lance Cargill, former House Speaker, was forced to resign last year after it became apparent he had tax issues. What makes Sen. Coffee’s situation any different? Coffee voted in 2003 for a bill allowing state employees to be fired for failure to pay state taxes. According to the Oklahoman, Coffee had the temerity to say if he had been guilty of not paying state taxes he would have had to resign under that state law, but since it wasn’t against state law he feels no compunction to give up his position of power.
Adding insult to injury is the fact KTOK radio reported late last week that the senator also failed to pay traffic fines and multiple parking tickets from the year 2000.
It is apparent Coffee is of the opinion he is above the law. This should not be the case. He should resign his leadership role. After that, it should be up to voters in his district to decide what to do come election time.
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