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To the Editor:

I want to take an opportunity in public to make an apology that I have already offered in private for an editorial I wrote in May (https://we-ha.com/letter-town-council-gop-needs-to-get-its-act-together/). This apology is to Republican Town Council members, the party leadership, and conservative leaning voters in town. I thought logic would prevail. I thought I could be a peacemaker. I thought I could bring the two warring factions of the local GOP together. To keep it as simple as possible, some were willing to meet and others were not.

I went head first into the pool, believing everything that one council member told me. Perhaps I was too naive or too trusting. Ultimately now, I see faults and merits on both sides. I did not have the clout to pull off a mediation or a resolution. Perhaps, if someone like a Justin Clark or even Donald Trump were brought in by video as an arbiter with full authority to say who stays and who goes, that could be a solution.

I want to acknowledge sentiments expressed by people like Kevin Sullivan and even the revived A Connecticut Party saying that there is dysfunction the West Hartford GOP. However, I would differ in the details saying it is not a Trump-related issue.  Whether someone supports or does not support the 45th President or not should have no bearing on their ability to serve in this town. It is not the root of this problem.

The struggle at hand here is the result of bitterness, unforgiveness, betrayal, misunderstanding and miscommunication. My willingness to want to be involved in a Republican solution in this town ended on Saturday when I was screamed at on the phone by a local elected Republican. This brought up memories of the abuse I suffered at the hands of my father as a child. I am done! This is one of the most toxic situations I ever experienced in my life and I am simply going to block all communication.

The solutions I truly want to see in society operate outside the paradigm of Republican and Democrat politics. I am going to stick to the grassroots group I belong to and do something productive with my time. I don’t need anymore brain damage.

Kevin Boudreau
West Hartford
Newly Unaffiliated voter