Drugstore Cowboy: South Bay Principal Busted For Dealing Meth

Want more evidence that California's "sex, drugs 'n rock & roll" ethos leads to sleaze in high places? Look no further than Santa Clara (home of Intel & McAfee) where an elementary school principal has been busted for trying to sell meth to an undercover cop he met on a gay sex site:

The principal of a Santa Clara elementary school faces drug sales charges after investigators found a quarter-ounce of methamphetamine at his San Francisco home, authorities said Sunday. 

Agents arrested Eric Dean Lewis, 42, principal of Montague Elementary, on Friday. The arrest occurred at a Caltrain station where Lewis had arranged to meet an undercover agent he contacted through a gay dating website, said California Department of Justice spokeswoman Michelle Gregory. 

Lewis, principal at the school on Laurie Avenue for the past seven years, was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of having methamphetamine for sale and offering to furnish narcotics. 

Santa Clara Unified School District officials said they are shocked at the arrest of the "well-regarded" employee and have placed him on unpaid administrative leave. Lewis could not be reached for comment. 

An unfortunate, poetic posting to students and parents happened to appear Sunday on Lewis' school's website: The "Principal's Message" stated, "At the end of the day be ready to say I'm proud of what I did today!"

As with the similarly meth-addicted former Alameda Supervisor Nadia Lockyer, we are dealing with a guy who managed to go pretty far despite leading a frankly depraved "secret" life (which was, no doubt, well known to folks in a position to stop him, but didn't). Take my word for it as someone who went to college in CA, and has lived here for 20+ years: there is a lot of illicit sex and raging drug use going on behind closed doors. It's just impossible to believe that there are members of Generation X occupying positions of influence, who have personal histories that would make Bill Clinton blush, that aren't carrying on with the same crazy behavior they indulged in at college. Sure, gay sex and meth use are vicitmless crimes, but - knowing what you know now - would you want this guy as principal of your kids' elementary school?

(interestingly, the SF Chronicle version of this story forces you to guess as to the principal's sexual orientation. Don't want to disrupt the rainbows and unicorns PR efforts of the gay community, I guess).

Can't say I have any solutions to offer, except that I don't think it would have been to hard for Lewis's bosses to find out the truth about him, but no one wanted to look.