It may be legal to keep your seat, Paul. But it isn't right

We don't really know what happened at the home of Carpentersville trustee Paul Humpfer last May.

Only Paul and his estranged wife, Jackie, know the true details.

But we do know a court recently found him guilty of domestic battery, after a judge found credible her claims he'd hit her with a baseball bat after learning she had been unfaithful to him.

Unless that verdict is overturned, it's all we know for sure.

That and we know the resulting outcry has been nearly as ugly as the alleged events that May night. Internet blogs and newspaper sites are filled with snide comments demeaning not only the trustee but his entire town.

Supporters and foes alike have punctuated village board meetings and public discussions with sometimes sordid allegations.

The circus has escalated as Village President Bill Sarto -- an ardent political foe -- has tried to use the distressing situation to his own political gain, also to his community's discredit.

Bill's motives are pretty clear and his tactics increasingly appalling; but, frankly, this isn't about him.

It's about the impact Paul Humpfer's private life is having on his entire community.

And, without question, that's a problem.

Harmful fallout

When you're elected to office, you become a public figure, one who represents his or her entire community.

When you do something good, everyone gets to bask in your success.

When you do something bad, it splashes on us all in a very different way.

As best we can tell, based on the legal information available to us thus far, Paul Humpfer can legally keep his seat.

And it's easy to understand his reasons for wishing to do just that.

But this isn't just about him, and it's definitely not about what he wants.

He has been convicted of domestic abuse. The perception is he is someone who beat his wife with a baseball bat.

It may be legal to keep your seat, Paul. But it isn't right.

Making a bad legacy

Do you really want your town to be known as a "haven for wife-beaters," as has been suggested in blogs? Do you want it to be mocked and ridiculed because of you?

Perhaps, as you contend, that night didn't happen the way your wife claims.

It doesn't matter.

You were found guilty.

And it wasn't the first time there had been such violence in your home.

Perhaps, your political foes have seized on this and worked it to their own advantage.

It doesn't matter. You gave them the ammunition.

And, perhaps, in other places, this would not play out the way it has. But this is Carpentersville, a town torn for way too long by dissension, division, distrust.

Finally, it had seemed to be making progress, in part thanks to efforts from Paul Humpfer.

But, now it's back in the sewer of sordid gossip and, worse, a laughingstock.

Do what's right

If you really care about your community, as you claim, Paul, then do what's right for it.

Remove yourself from the public eye.

Take care of your private life -- in private. Tend to your children. Fix your legal woes.

If your conviction is overturned, then consider coming back to serve the public if that's your wish.

But, right now, you aren't doing the public any service.

You are only serving yourself.