GREELEY — This city’s mayor says he’s glad his controversial two-year tenure is nearly over — and he’s ready to get back to being a regular citizen.
But make no mistake about it, Ed Clark said recently, if he did choose to run again, he’d get re-elected.
“If I put my name on the ballot, I would win here, absolutely,” Clark said. “But the best thing for me and my family is to be just Ed Clark.”
Two men are vying to replace Clark, a former police officer who pulled no punches and sometimes got physical with his constituents.
Clark also got into trouble for producing a fake $3 bill emblazoned with an image of President Barack Obama wearing a Middle Eastern headdress.
Also, Clark feuded with the local newspaper — the Greeley Tribune — and said he hoped the paper would fail.
Clark apologized for some of his activities, including the Obama jab, which he called just political satire. He also regretted grabbing a 15-year-old boy and yanking him off his motor scooter in Clark’s neighborhood.
Clark still despises the Tribune, which he says has ignored his accomplishments as mayor, including reducing crime and gang activity.
“When you look at my career,” he said, “I have been very, very successful here.”
Tom Norton, a past president of the Colorado Senate, and Ed Phillipsen, a city councilman for eight years, are running to replace Clark.
Clark, who refused a write-in candidacy for mayor, said he will vote for Norton. “I don’t think either candidate shares all my principles or my agenda for Greeley,” Clark said. “But I do support Tom Norton.”
Norton, former director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, said residents drafted him to run because they like his leadership skills.
“I’ve always been able to work with a variety of people to build coalitions and get things done,” Norton said.
Greeley has long suffered an image problem because the city is its “own worst enemy,” Norton said. He wants the University of Northern Colorado and local merchants to work together to make the city a top attraction for more companies and people.
Tom Selders, who preceded Clark as mayor, was fiercely attacked for criticizing raids that arrested illegal immigrants at work.
Norton said immigration enforcement is strictly a federal issue and not one he is likely to step into. Phillipsen did not return repeated calls and e-mail requests for interviews left over a two-week period.
Unlike Selders and Clark, Phillipsen and Norton seem unlikely to insert themselves into situations where mayors don’t traditionally tread, said former UNC political science professor Steve Mazurana.
“They are both pretty conventional candidates who don’t have a single-issue agenda,” Mazurana said. “Both are pretty respectable and not coming from just left or right field.”
Although he wants to spend time with his family, Clark has not completely ruled out a political future. “You haven’t heard the last of Ed Clark,” he said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
