We at The Times are held in such high esteem that we've been asked by the prestigious John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to submit nominees for its Profile in Courage Award.

It is named for the 1955 book by Kennedy, then a U.S. senator, detailing the lives of eight senators whose personal courage enabled them to take unpopular stands regardless of consequence.

The nominee should be a public official who has shown "remarkable political courage in fighting for a cause or taking a stand on an issue. Your nominee may have become unpopular, even unelectable, as a result of his or her actions."

It was a tough decision, but without further ado, my nominee.

Anna K. Aaron, Director, Profile in Courage Award

John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

Columbia Point

Boston, MA 02125

Dear Ms. Aaron:

It is with great pleasure that I recommend as a 2007 Profile in Courage nominee Mr. Will Smith, a former member and the former president of the Lake County Council, our local countywide legislative body.

In the performance of his duties great difficulties confronted Mr. Smith, not the least of which was his federal felony conviction for filing a false tax return.

Lesser men would have stepped down, ashamed. Not so Mr. Smith, a man of conviction in more ways than one. No, he stood resolute in the face of calls for his resignation from voters and many of his fellow elected officials.

Yet in the face of opposition and the calumnies heaped upon him, Mr. Smith stayed the course as his attorneys found a loophole to allow him to serve and accomplish his desire to guide an unwanted county income tax through the council.

Bloodied but unbowed, Mr. Smith finally resigned after the council failed to override the veto of the tax by the Lake County Commissioners.

It was a difficult task to select from among a wealth of deserving candidates, from those who "saved the county money" by spending it on themselves to others caught in the same scam that resulted in Mr. Smith's conviction.

In the final analysis, Mr. Smith's unrepentant boldness and his resolution to arm-twist an unwanted tax into law merits his nomination.

Please give him every consideration and call to mind the message of President Kennedy's brother Robert, then U.S. attorney general, who in 1962 called Lake County "one of the most corrupt places in America."

To honor the memory of RFK, we have chosen to remain just as he remembered us.

Sincerely,

Mark Kiesling

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at markk@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4170.