Sen. David Jaye’s actions are deplorable and quite disappointing, but this does not give the Senate adequate grounds for dismissal.

Jaye, R-Washington Township, faced charges in a Florida court for domestic abuse against fiancée Sonia Kloss, but the charges were dropped last week. The Senate is also reviewing tapes and testimony alleging Jaye hit, kicked and slapped Kloss at a Bay County gas station, but results are inconclusive.

His record includes three drunken driving arrests and an incident in which he dropped a gun during a caucus meeting. Topless pictures of his fiancée were also found on his Senate-owned computer.

A statewide poll conducted by Lansing-based EPIC/MRA polling firm reports that of 600 voters, 61 percent thought Jaye should be expelled from the Senate.

If voters want Jaye to disappear from the Senate, the decision should be up to them - in 2002 when he runs for re-election.

Jaye is an embarrassment to the Senate, the state, the Republican party and to voters - the last of whom should make the final decision.

It is disappointing Kloss will not pursue charges against her fiancé. If he were convicted, the Senate would have a better case against Jaye.

As it stands now, their only material witness against him is his three previous drunken driving arrests and disorderly conduct.

An important fact to keep in mind is that two of those arrests occurred before Jaye was re-elected in 1998. Voters should have been well aware of his past when they cast their ballots.

Since his re-election, there have been no clear reasons for dismissal. Jaye faced one more drunken driving arrest and was never convicted of assaulting his fiancée.

At this point, the Michigan Legislature does not have a clear policy as to the grounds on which a lawmaker can be expelled. The Senate is making up the rules as it goes along, and should be very careful. What it does now will set a precedent for future decisions.

After this affair is over, the Legislature should put serious thought toward forming specific guidelines concerning expulsion.

Besides expulsion, the Senate has other ways to chastise Jaye. His committee assignments should continue to be withheld and his proposals ignored, effectively putting him in a dunce cap and sitting him in the corner.

The Republicans’ attempt to kick him out is plainly a move to clear their image for the upcoming