ROCKLAND — City Councilor Will Clayton spoke frankly at a Jan. 11 regularly scheduled meeting in City Hall, directing a hard-hitting message at one unknown individual who had apparently sent each of the five councilors an anonymous, vitriolic letter. Clayton aimed his words to the general public, and the camera that was broadcasting the meeting live over public access television, but he was targeting one person, somewhere, perhaps listening and watching.

Clayton and the councilors declined to divulge its contents, or what it referenced. They did, however, show the envelope — a plain white business letter, each typed address line separately cut and taped to the envelope. Someone took great care in the assembly of the letters, which were postmarked simply “South Portland,” the location of the mailing center where they were sorted.

“You have absolutely no guts to write a letter and not sign it,” said Clayton, speaking from his seat in front of a roomful of citizens who had gathered at 6 p.m. to address various city business topics — the power plant moratorium, new rules guiding short term rentals, the sale of city land, even a proposed city vision statement.

Earlier in the evening, citizens had filed to the microphone, one after another, for 45 minutes, lending their thoughts in five-minute time allotments.

Clayton had started his short speech praising the work of staff at the city recreation center, where his children play basketball.

“This will be the third year our kids are involved in the program,” said Clayton. “It was always good before, but the leadership Benjie [Blake] is showing is phenomenal. He is doing an incredible job.”

Clayton also praised the rec center’s cleanliness, appearance and efficiency.

“It is top notch, the staff, as well,” he said.

He segued into his next point, saying that as councilors, “we often get asked about what we do and how we like it.”

He said he frequently gets engaged in conversations in grocery store aisles, and people stop by the house. That interaction and dialog with citizens represents “the fun things about city involvement.”

The citizens who have the courage to talk impress him, he said.

But there is a downside that people don’t see.

“Every so often you get something you want people to know,” he said. “This is one of those times.”

He then described the anonymous letter he got in the mail.

“It was defamatory in nature,” he said. “It showed me how appreciative I am of people who show up here at meetings and have input. But whoever wrote the letter, you are quite cowardly, you are pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.”

Have the courage to talk, he said. There is no need for insinuation or defamatory language.

“This is a form of bullying,” said Clayton. “You offer nothing of value to the discussion. We, as a council, and as a city, will continue to move forward without you.”

After the meeting, Clayton said the councilors have received anonymous letters from time to time, but this one was excessively hostile. Two other councilors standing nearby, Larry Pritchett and Mayor Louise MacLellan-Ruf, nodded their heads, but also declined to talk about the letter’s content. 

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657