All I hear is yall crying about this topic. Have any of you ever made a mistake? He without sin cast the first stone. And as i do not condone using marijuana while driving but in the privacy of your own home. It is the SAFER choice look at how many people die of liver failure every year. And kill thousands of prople drunk cause you think you can drive to get another case or another bottle Alcohol=Death You people need to wise up.

Is it too much to ask that someone who is supposed to be REPRESENTING our county not only FOLLOW the law, but also be a man and accept responsibility for his actions? Nobody is judging this man who yes did make a mistake and break the law, but as someone who is an authority figure he is held at a higher esteem therefore there is no room for error in his case. He understood his role & accepted it when he ran for commissioner and we shouldn’t expect any less. My question to you {boo hoo} is what do you suggest should happen to him? Any other Fayette County employee who would have been caught in this same position would have been fired before the story could hit the paper. Why should this man be treated any different?

Wow, if you are going to take the effort to sign up as a new user, give an email and go through an activation process, I would think that you would come up with something more than this. A tired comparison to alcohol? I imagine that if Horgan was caught in his cups behind a wheel that there would still be a call for his ouster. It is more about the choice for illegal behavior, not the behavior involved.

I think the word you were looking for was "lynch".

Are You Freer Today Than You Were Before Obama?

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It is gone, but family ties make me curious. Did this ancestor survive? The history is not clear. Feel free to email me instead of replying

How has he "attempted to cover it all up"?

Maybe better words than cover up would be sweeping under the rug, wouldn't they all like for it just to go away never to be seen or heard about again.

I totally agree with the folks that ask what would have happened to a teen, or an average Joe off the street. There does seem to be a double standard at work here. If that had been me with a joint while driving I would have had to pay a fine, lose my license, lose my job, consequently lose everything else I have, work on a chain gang, live in a 12 X 12 with big Bertha . . .you know, why not the same for him?

Me thinks you stretch the truth.

You are absolutely right, but the point is an average Joe would be treated much differently than ole Horgan is being treated.

Horgan has been charged with a misdemeanor possession of marijuana. As an average Joe, I was once charged with an MIP (Minor in possession of Alcohol) I written a citation, I went home with my friends (no handcuffs, no night in jail, etc.). Later I went to court it was my first offense I plead no-lo. I did not receive a fine. I did some community service with the fine men at PTC public works and I did 6 months probation. That’s it. Mr. Horgan will probably face something similar to me but he unlike me, he has been publicly humiliated, a colleague has asked him to resign and local citizens have now filed an ethic complaints against him. His future in politics is probably over. The way I see it he has been treated much more harshly than if he were an average Joe. Because he is a public official I think that is fair. I think he should be held to a higher standard and the public and his colleagues are doing that.

I have to agree with Arf's statements above, especially when my tax dollars are at work - Horgan is an elected official who should uphold the law and set an example, he displayed irresponsible behavior and tried to talk/bribe his way out of it. I believe the "isn't there something we can do right now" is what really irks me the most.

We all are welcome to have an opinion and express it here; some see this as a minor event, others see it as more because he is an elected official who should set examples.

We are truly in trouble if we are looking to elected officials for examples. If you know what I mean.

Because Horgan is an elected official he should be held to a higher standard and I belive that is happening. A first time pot possesion charge is not that big of a deal for the average joe. You get a slap on the wrist. ( A fine and some probation). But for Horgan his name has been drug through the mud, he has been asked to resign by his colleague, he has to face an ethics review board and his future in politics is probably over. All this and he hasn't even been to court yet. What more could we ask for?

If folks really care, just Google the subject of this post as written and you will see that the Judge has considerable latitude in handling such cases--including discharge for a first offender; and no loss of driver's license if you take a class within a certain time frame.

Can't we do something to take care of this right now?

That is my guess for a coverup attempt or a bribery attempt-- but this whole process could be specious. As you have stated, they are still only characterizing this as a misdemeanor-they must not have had the push to go with the corruption charge.

A simple misdemeanor charge...two of them actually. Expired tag and less than one ounce of POT. Oh well, I guess hanging is the fair punishment.

I saw that as a more appropriate response for Governor Rod, not this guy. Let the process continue on.

Yeah, we must rid the streets/paths of these menaces. Someone drinking some wine and driving a golf cart, I'm terrified.

I checked but could not find the definition of "some wine!"

Isn't it .08?

It must be stopped...so much damage done by golf carters and WINE!!

if we let go of county employees just for peeing hot, then his resignation or removal from office would be a no brainer. However, if those terminated folks had a review and legal process that was followed, then they should do hte same thing for him. To me this is similar to the Blagojivich(sp?) scandal. He was dead nuts guilty, but they still had to follow the process. But what is good for the goose is good for the gander-he should go through the same thing that his employees were forced to go through

Horgan that is...it's a different standard.

legitimate question, I assume that it is the county, but I do not know the answer. If he is a member of the head of county government, it is not a defensible position that he is a leader, but do not do as I do. Does he lead from the head or the hind. When General Hooker made the statement that he leads from the saddle, Lee supposedly stated that "he has his headquarters where his hindquarters should be"

Is your reticence more of a function of pot, or would it be for any crime that he would be accused of?

I just don't see a misdemeanor being serious enough for someone on the Council to call for his resignation.

Obviously, others disagree.

Honestly, a recall would seem to me the best way to go about this, if folks are really that concerned about having a Councilman in office that has been accused of Misdemeanors.

Perhaps it is a personal matter. I understand and can support your thoughts on the entire category of misdemeanors. In that case, I would understand that a recall would be the only good process if the populace desired action. politically I could support that position. Personally, if I were Horgan I would feel honor-bound to resign. If only for the aspect that I should lead from the front and set the example. Of course, since I have been subjected to urinalysis since the age of 17 when my parents signed me into the army, I would not have put myself in this position. My formative years have set me in stone on this regard.

Just curious as to where you stand. I understand legalities, etc..but in reality, there is no difference. Should he be forced to resign if he had an open BEER in his truck? Not impaired, but just an open BEER?

Just trying to get folks thoughts..my Dad absolutely would agree, any POT and the world is over for Horgan. But BEER etc, well, that's another story. It's just BEER. Different folks, different strokes.

I think that I agree with you on this. If he is charged with a misdemeanor, then let the normal process work. Now personally I am pretty much a teatotaler, but if I got charged with a beer type dui, then I would have felt honor bound to resign. Now am open beer, I would resign for being stupid.

I guess I am kind of legalistic about this. If I were sitting in a restaurant with an open beer, I would be engaged in legal activity. If I were sitting in the same restaurant with a "blunt" then I would be engaged in illegal activity. I view each example entirely differently. To me if is a function of legal or illegal possession. I think sooner or later the blunt will be considered legal and marketed to kids. Meanwhile tobacco will be forbidden. We are a strange lot, aren't we?

I cannot see why folks cannot view history and see that Prohibition didn't work. It seems we are going down that path again in some ways.

That said, should be interesting for Horgan. I don't see him getting re-elected in the County myself, but in some strange way, I don't want him to resign either.

Local stuff is the best...in my opinion, that is what this blog is best at.

Since you brought up prohibition, on several occasions I believe, I'm curious where you draw the line on banned substances. Following your logic shouldn't all illegal drugs be legalized? I, personally, am leaning in that direction because I believe the "war on drugs" will never work and the level of crime as a result of these policies will just continue to grow. I know all the augments against that move, but I've developed the opinion, if they want to fry their brains and drop dead, have at it. Just need to keep them off the roads while impaired.

Unless you get paid to chase the so called bad guys. Otherwise, I fail to see what good it is going.

I'm for legalizing POT for sure..I have no problems with folks using drugs on their own time for sure. And yes, alcohol is a drug too, and I enjoy an occasional adult beverage or three myself. I don't tread on others while I'm doing so. I'm very libertarian in my views on mind altering substances..live and let live.

on his part. Not surprising though, I'll say that.

But it does show the truth behind most partisan thought. During the Bush administration, I am sure that most committed democrats "feel" that statement, even if they are smart enough not to articulate it. Just as I am sure that most committed Republicans "feel" that statement now. But as we are governed in a republic and have a winner and at least one loser per election, it is a bit of a silly tantrum to articulate. What would people prefer, a benevolent dictatorship?