"Service Drives Me"

Willett is a 1981 Collegiate graduate. He earned a BA in government and economics as well as a law degree from William & Mary. He’s worked as an attorney, businessman, and consultant. His most recent stop is Impact Makers, a technology consulting firm where he serves as vice-president of community impact.

 

He and his wife Lydia Pulley have three children: Collegiate graduates Turner ’12 and Winston ’16 and Nora, a sophomore. With his professional endeavors and family responsibilities, Willett has plenty to keep him busy. Plus, after 30-plus years in the work force, he knows that retirement is down the road: not tomorrow, mind you, but somewhere on the horizon.

 

So what has he done? Answered the call to run as a Democrat for the 73^rd District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

 

His opponent in the November 5 election is Mary Margaret Kastelberg. They’re vying for the post vacated by Debra Rodman, a candidate in the June 11 Democratic primary for the opportunity to face Siobhan Dunnavant, who now represents District 12 in the State Senate.

 

Why, I wondered, would a nice guy like Willett, who’s never run for office, throw his hat into the ring at this stage of life?

 

He laughed as he fielded the question.

 

“I’ll start with a story,” he replied. “I have a close family member. She’s self-employed, a writer. She was able to get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. She went in for a routine checkup and unfortunately got the call you never want to get. She’d developed Stage 4 breast cancer. Horrible situation, but she had coverage.

 

“She started treatments which, of course, are incredibly expensive, time-consuming, and physically impactful. As the costs added up, the insurance company’s response got more and more difficult in terms of hurdles to clear. Eventually, she was in danger of losing coverage. The story has a happy ending. Her family was able to intervene and help get her coverage back, and she’s fine, which is also amazing.

 

“She was literally facing a life-and-death situation, but she had help. I think about all the people I’ve seen in my career who don’t have coverage. Even if they had it, to face a situation like that, they wouldn’t be able to overcome the challenges.

 

“Her situation represents what hundreds of thousands of people in Virginia and millions nationally face. What I realized is that government is not taking care of people. We provide some coverage through Medicaid expansion, but let’s not forget that there’re 320,000 in Virginia who could come under it but can’t get it. The reason is political compromise. The leadership of the House and Senate didn’t recognize the broader need and left it undone.”

 

Willett, like so many others, is also concerned about the high cost of prescription drugs.

 

“Think about somebody who’s not well off,” he said. “They’re making choices between food and medication.”

 

If elected, there’s another issue that he plans to address, also from personal experience.

 

“We had another close family member affected on the adolescent mental health side,” he said. “The young man was able to get help, but even coming from a family that could take care of him, he could not get into a facility without driving three hours to get a bed. Three hours!

 

“They had the means to get him there, but I start thinking of the families that can’t do that easily. Can they take off from work? Do they even have a car? I think those two things (the breast cancer scare superseded by the insurance scare and the mental health situation) are what drove my decision (to enter the political arena).”

 

Was there one Eureka moment, I asked, or was running for office the result of thought and reflection?

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” he replied. “I’ve worked with government for almost 30 years and done a fair amount of work with the General Assembly. I’m comfortable in that space. I really want to make a difference.”

 

In addition to Medicaid expansion and mental health issues, Willett will advocate for the enhancement of early childhood education opportunities throughout the state.

 

“Honestly,” he said, “I think Virginia’s at a juncture where there’s some low-hanging, bi-partisan fruit. I’m an optimist. One guy won’t change the General Assembly, but I do think coming with the right attitude and being willing to collaborate will help get things done.

 

“I’ll bring a civil attitude. I know just as many Republicans in the House as I do Democrats. Some of them I went to school with. I’ve got a fraternity brother or two out there. We’ll absolutely disagree on things, but I know there’s common ground. The basic issues are just a couple of votes away. Even if it is the low-hanging fruit, that would be a sea change for Virginia.”

 

Willett is no stranger to effecting change. He’s worked at Impact Makers for eight of the company’s 12-year existence.

 

“It started as an experiment that was radical at the time,” he said. “Instead of taking profits and sharing them with owners, the community is the beneficiary. That’s just crazy. Who would work for a company like that? What we found was that there were like-minded people who wanted to have a professional career while simultaneously giving back to the community and making a difference. That radical idea has now become a living, breathing company. More significantly, more companies have copied that model.”

 

Though the election is still five months away, Willett is spending considerable time speaking to groups, raising funds, and meeting and greeting. Around mid-summer, he’ll start pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, and meeting person-to-person the voters in the Henrico County district he hopes to represent.

 

His time commitment will be enormous. Sleep will be at a premium. He’ll likely wear through the soles on at least a couple of shoes. He’s fine with that. He’s on a mission to serve the underserved. It’s a mission he intends to fulfill with alacrity, dignity, and purpose.

 

“I’ve always felt that you have to make a difference,” he said. “Service drives me. My Collegiate experience sparked that, nurtured that. The culture here is ‘How can I help others?’ This is a school of very privileged people. What do you do with that? You take care of your family. You take care of others.”

  -- Weldon Bradshaw