As Clendenin heads out, Democrat Aaron Coleman should join the resignation train

“With a heavy heart and deep disappointment” and fighting back tears at his council seat Tuesday morning, Wichita City Council member James Clendenin announced his plan to resign at the end of this year.

Kudos, at last, to the council member for acknowledging that he has “become a distraction from the critically important work” of the council, the city, and most importantly, the residents who elected him.

Now it’s time for a northeast-Kansas Democrat to follow suit, for the good of his constituents and the state.

A group of Kansas House Democrats rightfully has called for the resignation of Rep.-elect Aaron Coleman, a 20-year-old Democrat from Wyandotte County.

Coleman, an admitted abuser who once threatened to shoot a high school student and tweeted that he would “call a hit out” on Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, needs to join the resignation train — and soon.

It’s remarkable and regrettable that the community college student won a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives — and international notoriety — after admitting to circulating revenge porn and harassing girls online.

He’d be wise to take a lesson from Clendenin and former Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell, scandalized elected officials who cut their losses and stepped aside.

(It bears repeating that state Rep. Michael Capps doesn’t deserve to hold public office either. And though he has stubbornly refused to step down, voters didn’t give him an option.)

Until this week, Clendenin, who was caught on tape plotting to frame a colleague for a false-ad campaign, had ignored a growing list of allegations against him and staunchly defied repeated calls for his resignation.

Tuesday’s action shows that sometimes, thank goodness, honor and responsibility triumph over pride and pretense.

“This is neither the time nor the place for discussing or debating the specifics of allegations being made against me,” Clendenin said.

That will — and should — still happen, because taxpayers deserve answers. If Clendenin and his buddy Capps submitted false information to secure federal CARES Act money, as an Eagle investigation found, both should pay it back and face legal consequences.

But for now, at least Clendenin has pledged to step aside.

“There are too many families, businesses and schools that are suffering,” he said, “and entirely too many of our residents living on the edge that need our city’s attention and laser focus.”

Indeed, there’s much work to be done.

Good for the long-serving Wichita City Council member for admitting, finally, that it would be “selfish and unproductive” to retain his elected office and taxpayer-funded salary.

The newbie Kansas lawmaker should do the same.