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Steve Clark's return Saturday, May 3, 2008 By Doug Thompson Steve Clark's ego got him in serious trouble 19 years ago. He was the fair-haired state attorney general who was next in line for governor. He used his taxpayer-provided credit card for personal benefit and was convicted for it. He could have let that history sleep. Instead, he recently announced for Fayetteville mayor. This brought his old criminal conviction up in just about every newspaper in the state. He must have known it would. Now ask yourself: Who else is willing to pay such a price for the privilege of just running for this job? This column isn't an endorsement. I'd vote for Lioneld Jordan if the election were today. I'm also disappointed that Jeff Koenig dropped out. I am, however, going to listen to what Clark has to say. I'm not going to dismiss someone who's willing to confront his past in such a public way. He's learned lessons most of us never will. Clark's running for mayor in a town where there's one of the last newspaper wars in the state. He knows he'll be watched like a field mouse under a sky full of hawks if he wins. He knows he won't get any benefit of any doubt. Any mayor of this town will have enemies. They'll be watching too. A shadow of a doubt could get a lot of traction in this situation. Yet Clark's willing to put himself in this situation. It's enough to make me wonder why he'd do it. I've mulled that over a couple of weeks now. I don't think ego's got the better of him this time. He has kids here and grandkids living here. It's one thing to be young and flamboyantly foolish. It's another to remind everybody of that history, including people who call you grandpa. I think Clark came right out and gave his reason. He believes he owes the public something. I'd guess that he'd also like to be known for something better than what he's famous for now. I'm not sentimental. Many years ago, a man was running for office. He was a felon who'd been pardoned, but unlike Clark his criminal record had not been expunged. This made him ineligible. I found out and called him. The man broke into sobs. That conviction had been more than 30 years before, almost 40. He begged me not to do the story. I remember his pleading: "How long? How long does a man have to live before a mistake in his youth can be forgiven?" I was as polite as the circumstances permitted, but told him that the ombudsman for the state attorney general's office had assured me that there was no time limit on these cases. So the answer I told him: "never." Then there was the guy in central Arkansas who pleaded guilty to drug charges while he was an attorney for a hospital. He cleaned up and, years later, was presenting something to a city council. I wrote up that council meeting and mentioned the attorney's history. He didn't call me. His wife did. His long-suffering wife, who stood by him through all this, asked me how long this history was supposed to be news. "Forever," I replied. I figured that brevity was the best kind of manners in this situation, so that's about all I said. She was very quiet for a minute. Then she hung up. Clark came back and didn't cry about the backlash. He knew he was going to get lumps. He took them. That's something you don't see every day. That wasn't an act of vanity. That was an act of humility. I'm impressed. I'm impressed enough to give the guy a fair hearing. I also live in the only town in Arkansas besides Eureka Springs that could ever conceivably have a convicted felon and somebody named Adam Fire Cat running for mayor. I like that. I'm very glad Jordan and Walt Eilers are in the race, but I still like that. --------- Doug Thompson is a Fayetteville-based reporter and columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau and the Morning News. His e-mail address is dthompson@arkansasnews.com. |
