Once upon a time, a public official was driving his car and had to stop because an emergency vehicle blocked the roadway while responding to a call. A police officer directing the public official away from the scene noticed an alcoholic beverage, opened, in the public official’s vehicle. He also noticed that the registration for the public official’s vehicle is expired.

The public official admitted having imbibed earlier in the day at his home, and said he placed the container in his vehicle’s center console cup holder and forgot it was there.

Now, the public official is a person of some influence to the police officer.  But what does the police officer do? He asks the public official to voluntarily perform a series of field sobriety tests. What does the public official do? He agrees. Furthermore, to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest, the officer asks a nearby sheriff’s deputy to conduct the tests.

Alas, a Breathalyzer test showed the public official to have a blood alcohol level of .000. He was cited for having an open container and for having expired tags, and is sent on his way.

No fuss, no muss.

The story we have just told is true. The public official: Clancy Donlin, member of the Port Orchard City Council. The officer: A member of Port Orchard Police Department. The deputy: A member of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department.

The point? When we read this story in the Port Orchard Independent, a fellow Sound Publishing newspaper, we couldn’t help but notice the difference between how this case was handled and the handling of the suspected DUI case involving a Kitsap County sheriff’s sergeant last fall. Sure, the circumstances leading to Donlin’s citations pale in comparison to the circumstances involving the sheriff’s sergeant. But this case had many of the same elements — an alcoholic beverage, a person of authority, an officer who is part of the same team as the subject, in this case, Port Orchard city government.

The handling of this latest situation was textbook-correct. The public should expect that all individuals — public servant and civilian — will receive fair and equal treatment under the law.

We appreciate the councilman’s cooperation. Now, keep the containers where they belong (and, hey, get your vehicle registration renewed).