FRANKLIN/WHITE Cos.—Carmi’s mayor has been cited for Operating a Watercraft Under the Influence of Alcohol following a boating incident at Rend Lake this weekend.
Jeff Pollard, in a photo from the Carmi Times/GateHouse Media site, used here via Fair Use Act.
Jeff Pollard, 48, was cited by an Illinois Department of Natural Resources office on Saturday, August 31, 2013, for a count of OUI (Operating Under the Influence) and OUI with BAC of .08 or greater, as well as operating a boat in a no wake area.
He’s set for an October 1 court appearance on the Ordinance Violation tickets out of Franklin County.
Pollard was just elected mayor of Carmi in the April Consolidated Election this year.
Pollard told Disclosure this morning:
I’m sadly embarrassed to admit that I have been charged with OUI. We always go boating on the weekends and make sure we have a sober drivers for the boat and truck. Obviously this was not my weekend, I was riding a jet-ski that I had never rode before and was pulled over for no-wake. I made a poor judgment call and I’m sorry for that, I will be paying my fine and owning up for my mistake. I may be the mayor but I’m also human and make mistakes. I can only hope that in running this story it doesn’t have a negative impact of what we are working towards to better Carmi.
Further details if they develop; be sure to check frequently, have your online membership up-to-date for this upcoming e-Edition, or pick up your copy of the print version on stands where available, as we’re sold out in many locations, but the new edition is arriving Tuesday, September 10.
(For the record, Disclosure would like to commend Pollard for stepping up and saying what he has. Kudos, mayor.)