Good Deed by Selectmen Mistaken as Unrighteous

After local business Kelly’s Kitchen nearly closed down for good last week due to a minor fire and resulting code violations cited by town departments, The Winsted Journal broke the story that town Republicans had stepped up to help pay for upgrades to the restaurant in order to keep the business in town. Since the story was printed, rumor has it that some Democrats’ feathers are ruffled over what they see as a political stunt and show of favoritism.

Whether or not the good-natured decision of Republican selectmen was made to earn political points or help a fellow member of the GOP, the good deed certainly should not be seen as a reason to be angry at the owners of Kelly’s Kitchen. The restaurant happens to be an establishment favored by a number of Republicans, Democrats, independents and unaffiliated residents, and it is clear that the Republicans are trying to help Bob and Kelly McCarthy through a tough time.

That tough time has been compounded by local fire, building and health officials who have piggy backed onto Kelly’s Kitchen since the restaurant’s very minor fire occurred Jan. 27. Numerous building, fire and health code violations have been cited because any fire essentially puts you back to square one when it comes to codes. The restaurant originally had been grandfathered by codes established by a previous business and now the McCarthys are jumping through hoops to get the business back up and running. One can imagine the ensuing difficulties when dealing with an insurance company.

By the way, the McCarthy’s almost lost their young daughter to a rare blood disease while all of this was happening, so give them a break.

Anyone who’s angry at the Republicans for helping out Bob and Kelly should first take a moment to think of other businesses in town that have received help in their times of need. The fact that this particular instance involves Republicans does not make it inherently heinous, though if George W. Bush was involved, we’d be more skeptical.

If the Republicans made any error in judgment when they decided to help out Kelly’s, it was their exclusion of Democrats from the collective show of support. If the outpouring of assistance had come from a unified board, townspeople would not be crying foul about politics — but they would assuredly find something else to cry about.

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