Haley: Anonymous letter only strengthened resolve

CLINTON — If the world of banking and high-finance that Kevin Haley calls his trade didn’t prepare him for swimming with sharks his quick dip into the shark tank of Clinton politics certainly will.

Last week, Haley, who works for Flagship Bank in Westborough, was sitting at his desk when he got a phone call from his boss, James Garvey, at the main office in Worcester. Garvey informed Haley that he had just received a typed letter, without a signature, questioning the bank’s decision to allow Haley to run for a seat on the Clinton Board of Selectmen this May.

“Basically, my boss called to tell me that he had just received an anonymous letter that said it was a conflict of interest to let me run for selectmen,” Haley said. “He explained that he ran it by the bank’s legal counsel to double check and make sure there wasn’t a conflict, the legal team said there wasn’t a conflict, again, and he wished me well.”
The anonymous letter claims to be from a “town official” with nearly 20 years of service to the town.

“I felt it was my duty to contact and inform you that as a former town official of nearly two decades in the town of Clinton Massachusetts, I am deeply concerned about one of your management employees, Kevin Haley, who is running for a position on the Board of Selectmen in Clinton,” reads the letter addressed to Garvey. “If elected, Kevin would have fiscal responsibilities to the residents of Clinton. Since this is the case I feel this would ultimately lead to the conclusion that he would have a conflict of interest in fiscal matters concerning bond borrowing, banking and other fiscal matters.”

Haley, who used to work for Sovereign Bank in Clinton, was considering a run for a seat on the board several years ago; however, because the bank viewed Haley serving as an elected official as a conflict of interest it instructed him not to run.

“His former employer, Sovereign Bank, correctly did not allow Kevin to run for this same office three years ago for this very reason,” states the letter. “If elected, I will make sure that the town’s financial departments and officials are notified of this and that Flagship Bank is excluded from doing business with the town, as it would certainly be a conflict of interest.”

The letter writer goes on to state that he or she believes it is a serious problem and it is their duty to inform Garvey of the perceived conflict.

“I am a principled person and would normally sign my name to a letter of this seriousness, but I fear retaliation and I must live here,” the letter reads.

Garvey was traveling on business and could not be reached by the Times & Courier for a comment; however, Haley said his boss fully supports his bid for a selectmen’s seat.

Haley has his suspicion as to who is responsible for sending the letter, but he said if the anonymous note was supposed to scare Haley into not running, it failed miserably and actually strengthened his resolve to continue with his campaign.

“Obviously, it either came from one of my enemies or one of my opponents,” Haley said. “My initial thought was that I wished they had come to me directly instead of taking the cowardly way out by not signing the letter. I’m also disappointed that this individual feels that they know what is in the best interest of the town and doesn’t want to allow the voters of Clinton to have a chance to determine who they want to serve on the Board of Selectmen.”

(Patrick Brodrick can be reached at 978-365-8044 or at pbrodric@cnc.com)