Memo to Kelly Clark, West Hartford Town Council Candidate

Dear Mrs. Clark:

You seem like a very nice lady. I'm willing to bet you are a loving and caring mom, and a great wife. You seem sweet when you smile and giggle during your West Hartford Television appearances. And you even appear attentive and generally interested in the conversation being conducted in front of you by your opponents during televised and live debates.

But what the blazes are you really doing in this race? Who hoodwinked you into running for Town Council when its apparent to anyone watching that you are out of your element? And you clearly aren't comfortable talking in public about issues and matters of public concern, or articulating your position on any matter. And you aren't comfortable engaging or debating or doing anything that remotely resembles passion for being a candidate for public office.

What is going on here? Was this your idea? Your husband's? Or someone else?

Yesterday, I watched you give your closing statement on WHCT. Surely, if you had real passion for being on the Council, you would have told viewers you want to be elected for better reasons than "keeping traffic flowing" or keeping sidewalks and roads safe. You want to be the safety candidate. And you are worried about recycling measures. Fine, but that doesn't make for any sort of platform on which to run for public office. And furthermore, you don't have to be elected to champion any of those worthy causes. You had an eternity to craft your message to the voters, and you gave them 10 seconds of silence before you could knit together a few empty statements.

It's probably too late for you to withdraw. I expect that your message of "safety for all" probably won't resonate with our citizens. And I'm sure you probably don't expect to win at this point. But I'm disappointed that you took a spot (an endorsed spot) that would have been better suited for someone who really wanted to run for Town Council on behalf of the residents of West Hartford. And I'm very disappointed in the West Hartford GOP for putting you in such an awkward and embarrassing position. They should be ashamed. And you should be disappointed.

The next time someone suggests that you do something that you are not comfortable doing - like run for office, please tell them politely "no". Being a politician takes passion and willingness to fight for ideas in a public forum. That's just not you.

Best of luck in the future. I hope you enjoyed the experience. I just hope that you being the weakest link on the ticket didn't help embolden or catapult the West Hartford Democrats to an easy victory in November. There is so much at stake for those of us who really want a change in tax and spend policies, I just wish you considered our situations before you embarked on this half-hearted venture.

The King

West Hartford Republicans OR West Hartford