Wilkerson's fall

THE POLITICAL plummet of state Senator Dianne Wilkerson accelerated yesterday when law enforcement officials arrested her on a federal complaint of public corruption that includes attempted extortion. The next landing spot for the eight-term senator could well be federal prison.

The US attorney alleges that Wilkerson took $8,500 in cash bribes from a cooperating witness and undercover investigators to obtain a liquor license for a proposed Roxbury nightclub. The complaint also alleges that Wilkerson promised to circumvent the public-bidding process for undercover agents who played the role of out-of-town businessmen seeking to develop a state parcel in her Roxbury district. She accepted or extorted an additional $15,000 in the effort to advance the plans of the supposed developers, according to the complaint.

Wilkerson has wielded prodigious power in her district and on Beacon Hill since the mid-1990s. Colleagues and constituents embraced her despite her failure to file tax returns and her long history of violating state campaign finance laws. Voters in her district finally had enough in September, when her Democratic primary opponent edged her out. But Wilkerson, whose hubris is unmatched, mounted a sticker campaign for the November election.

Those who view Wilkerson as a protector of the poor and minorities may suspect that the timing of the arrest was designed to undermine her sticker campaign. But that is conspiratorial nonsense. The photograph of Wilkerson stuffing her bra with tainted cash is the ultimate image of a politician wrapped up in herself.

The federal complaint alleges that Wilkerson leaned on the Boston Licensing Board, Mayor Menino, City Council president Maureen Feeney, and other local officials in her bid to secure the liquor license. But there is no evidence, as yet, to suggest that anyone other than Wilkerson profited financially. More investigation is needed, however, into why the city Licensing Board approved the request from the proposed club in August 2007 after rejecting the original request in June. It may simply be that the August bid was a scaled-back request for wine and beer. But the public still needs assurances that liquor licenses in Boston are determined on the merits.

Wilkerson is entitled to her day in court. But she had significant ethical troubles long before her arrest. She now faces serious felony charges and what appears to be damning evidence. Wilkerson should abandon her efforts to hold on to office - and let her constituents seek the honest, open representation that they deserve.