Grief does not excuse candidate’s behavior
In the Feb. 18 print edition of The Capital, Christopher Anderson wrote in support of his friend LaToya Nkongolo, a candidate for the Board of Education (BOE) in District 5.
He was writing in light of her recent arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. Anderson said, “I have never seen Nkongolo take a drink, let alone be drunk.” He goes on to detail how “overwrought with grief [from] the passing of her grandmother” Nkongolo was. His argument was, in essence, that the police got it wrong: Nkongolo wasn’t driving drunk — she was driving while grieving.
As a licensed clinical social worker who has spent most of my decadeslong career working with grieving individuals, I take great offense to Anderson’s suggestion. Working directly with grieving parents, siblings and grandchildren, I never had a client arrested for negligent driving or driving while under the influence of alcohol (as Nkongolo allegedly was) when they were not actually intoxicated and instead experiencing the devastating loss of a loved one.
Anderson’s suggestion is a slap in the face to grieving people everywhere who struggle to cope with the loss of a loved one but don’t endanger the lives of others while doing so.
Additionally, in the police report from Nkongolo’s arrest, the arresting officer states he “immediately detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from the vehicle” as he approached Nkongolo’s car. He asked if she had alcohol in the car and she said she didn’t. When the officer asked her about the bottles of alcohol in plain sight, she then admitted she did, the report said.
When asked if she’d been drinking alcoholic beverages, she said no, according to the report.
But the officer later found multiple empty and full bottles of alcohol in her car and when she was asked to exit the vehicle, the officer “could smell the odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from Nkongolo’s breath.” The officer attempted to conduct a field sobriety test, but Nkongolo refused, the report said.
Once placed under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol, Nkongolo refused to submit to an Intoximeter test (breathalyzer). Additionally, at the time of arrest the report states that “the vehicle had damage to the left front headlight and front grill area, left front fender, both left tires were flat … and the driver’s side mirror was damaged and folded into the driver’s door.” (Photographic evidence of this damage is in the report).
The report further states that when asked how her vehicle sustained this damage, Nkongolo said, “it had been that way for weeks, despite fresh mud and grass being visible on the vehicle.” This begs the question, what did she hit? And why was she continuing to drive a car with two flat tires?
Regardless of Nkongolo’s level of sobriety or grief, the night she was arrested she endangered the lives of everyone she passed on the road. She lied to an officer, according to the report. She refused tests that would have proven her innocence if she had in fact not been drunk.
Grief does not excuse any of this behavior. And none of this is the behavior of someone fit to serve on the Anne Arundel County BOE. A person with such a blatant disregard for the well-being of others has no place making decisions that will affect the lives of more than 85,000 children. Instead, Nkongolo clearly needs help and I hope she gets it. That should be her priority.
Fortunately for District 5 residents, they have a choice. Instead of voting for Nkongolo and her disregard for the law and well-being of others, they can vote for Dana Schallheim, who over the past nearly six years serving on our BOE, has demonstrated that the well-being of children will always be her priority. She is a person of the highest integrity, and will continue to serve our county and our children well.