A bold step would have been to admit his mistakes

During the news conference on Wednesday to announce the resignation of Inverness police Chief Joseph Elizarde, one word kept coming up.

At least three times, City Manager Frank DiGiovanni called the resignation a "bold" action by the embattled chief. Elizarde, who brought embarrassment to himself and his city -- and a host of legal problems to a business owner -- over a bungled lunch order, was praised for taking this last step off a wobbly gangplank.

Baloney.

Elizarde, at the center of the now-famous New Year's Day hamburger incident at Happy Dayz Diner, chose not to attend the hastily called news conference himself. He left DiGiovanni to speak for him.

Not that he wasn't available. DiGiovanni said the chief had met with the Police Department earlier Wednesday to announce his resignation and, presumably, to talk about the situation. I can only suppose that they were a more supportive audience than a group of journalists would be.

While I can understand his not wanting to face the music, I'd hardly call it bold to pass on your last, best chance to speak to the public and answer for your actions.

A "bold" move would have been to handle a messy situation yourself and not leave someone else to clean up after you.

A "bold" step would have been to admit that maybe, just maybe, you made a mistake. By resigning, Elizarde acknowledged as much. Why else would he quit his job?

"Bold" would have been to swallow your pride and apologize to the community for making yourself and Inverness the punchline in a statewide joke. (Did you hear that Inverness has a new chief executive? Mayor McCheese.)

Elizarde, however, decided the public doesn't need to know his reasons. Not only was he not at the news conference to explain his actions, but he declined -- through his family -- to comment to the Times about his resignation.

Even worse, at no point in his letter of resignation does he refer to the incident at the restaurant. It's as if he just woke up on Wednesday and decided to quit his job.

But that's how this whole ugly mess has gone from the start: one bad decision by the chief after another.

It started with his decision to make a personal complaint to the owner of the restaurant about his lunch order. Sure, Elizarde was a customer and he had the right to complain. But after making his feelings known, he should have simply walked away.

Why? Because he's a public official and as such he's held to a higher standard of behavior. As the police chief in a small town, he's a local heavyweight. As a cop, he has the legal right to take away someone's liberty. He can legally kill in the line of duty.

We, the public, give certain citizens powers greater than our own, and we expect them to be exercised with all due discretion. When those powers are abused, we deserve an accounting.

Instead, we get a drawn-out municipal embarrassment and a tremendous waste of time and tax dollars by people such as an assistant state attorney, the city attorney, the city manager and the rest of City Hall's staff -- all of whom have better things to do.

DiGiovanni said he hoped that with the resignation this issue would begin to fade from the front burner. He has told the city attorney to end her investigation. Hours after the chief quit, the state attorney's office announced it would not pursue criminal charges against Butch Ramsey, the owner of Happy Dayz.

Maybe he'll get his wish. Months from now, the incident will be a memory for most of us. A new police chief will take over, Elizarde will go on with his life, and the city's staff will get back to sewer projects and other mundane municipal matters.

It won't be so easy for one participant to forget, however. Ramsey will always have the arrest on his record, a reminder of a crime that he did not commit.

The chief owes him, at least, an explanation. If I were Ramsey, however, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for one.

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