Sequim Deputy Mayor Dennis Smith, 68, was charged with allegedly driving under the influence on Sunday, Dec. 14, after being involved in a fender bender.

Police Chief Bill Dickinson said Smith ran into another car waiting at the Port Williams Road and Sequim-Dungeness Way roundabout.

A Sequim Police officer reported to the scene at 3:15 p.m., Dickinson said, and in the course of obtaining information from Smith detected the odor of intoxicants.

Smith was arrested for driving under the influence and taken to the Sequim Police Department where he was booked through the Washington State Patrol.

Dickinson said Sequim Police could have processed the case but they didn’t want there to be any appearance of a conflict of interest.

A Washington State Patrol trooper took Smith to Olympic Medical Center for a blood draw to test his blood-alcohol level and booked him into Clallam County Jail later that night. He was released Monday morning.

Results for his blood alcohol level will take some time, Dickinson said.

Smith said this is the first time he’s been accused of drinking and driving. He said he was driving home by himself from a family get-together in Centralia at the time he was pulled over. He dropped off his sister in the Silverdale area, he said, after carpooling.

Smith said he does not know if he was above the 0.08 legal blood alcohol limit.

He appeared in court on Monday, Dec. 15, and goes back for arraignment on Friday, Dec. 19.

City Attorney Craig Ritchie said if Smith is found guilty or pleads guilty, city council bylaws allow him to continue serving on the council.

Smith said as a representative of the people of Sequim, that he believes they should have better expectations of him.

“It’s an embarrassment to the city and to the people,” Smith said.

Smith, who retired from the U.S. Air Force, was appointed to the Sequim City Council on Oct. 8, 2012, and was elected to his position in 2013. Fellow city councilors elected him deputy mayor earlier this year.

Smith and the other driver were uninjured in the collision and declined medical attention.