PROFILE / Kelley: Driven by her causes

Gayle Kelley
Age: 58
Engaged to Stephen Kelly
Address: Boylston Street
Education: University of Hartford, bachelor's degree in American history and government, master's degree in administration and supervision.
Educational consultant, CEO Sirius Solutions Marketing and Development; president, A Circle of Women, global peace and environment; Brockton cultural affairs director 2004-2006; member Brockton After Dark, Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Business Association.
Years in city: 3

By Elaine Allegrini
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

BROCKTON—Gayle Kelley says she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it.

“I am a cause-driven individual,” Kelley, 58, said. “If I see something wrong, I either try to make it better and participate, or I walk away and I want to participate.”

That desire has put Kelley in a three-way race in the Sept. 18 preliminary election against incumbent James Harrington and second-time challenger Jass Stewart.

“What I've seen happen in the last two years was a lack of leadership and it disturbed me,” Kelley said. She looked for another candidate to support, including Stewart.

“At the end of the day, nobody stepped up that I could support,” said Kelley, a first-time candidate for public office.

Now, she's in the middle of a campaign that she said Harrington called a “blood sport,” at the same time predicting all three candidates would be friends at the end of the day.

“I don't see politics as a blood sport, I see it as a calling,” said Kelley, whose background includes education and cultural affairs consulting, based for many years in New York City.

“I've always been in leadership positions,” she said. “Plus, I'm capable and competent.”

Her supporters include attorney Lawrence Siskind, activist and volunteer Ellie Wentworth and local business woman Tina Glidden. But the man who brought her to Brockton is not supporting her bid for mayor.

“She's an extremely bright woman who has wide reaches and does, for the most part, deal embracingly with all the communities that make up the city,” said former mayor John T. Yunits Jr., who hired Kelley as cultural affairs director in the last two years of his administration. “The hard one is managing a city of this size. With all its complexities and all its budget pressures, it's a different ball of wax all together.

“I don't know if Gayle is up to speed for that at this point, but who knows how quickly it would take her to get up to speed.”

Yunits said he has no misgivings about giving Kelley a city job and even accepts the blame for the controversy that it brought.

“I think she got out of the box wrong,” Yunits said. “It was my fault, not hers.”

Kelley, who grew up in Norwood, cites strong ties to Brockton where her father's sister Margaret Kelley Saba lived on Addison Avenue with her husband, Frank Saba, and their family. She says she spent much time in the city in her youth and recalls gatherings on the Saba's front porch that introduced her to others in the city and discussions about the state of the city, the future of the city.

Years later she would return to Brockton after living in New York City where she built a career, married and divorced.

“9/11 gave me a new perspective on life,” she said. “I came home to heal. I found a passion, a place I thought I could bring 35 years of work experience in Brockton.”

It was close to the Norwood area where her mother, siblings and extended family live and a place that offered fond memories, a diverse culture, she said.

Kelley arrived in Brockton in March 2004, taking a part-time $15,000-a-year job in the mayor's office where one of her top challenges was to convert the War Memorial Building into a performing arts center.

In New York City, Kelley was among founders of Earth Action Inc., a non-profit community service and environmental group of which she was executive director. She also developed a program, “The Hero Within,” and brought it to schools.

Among her other projects were two documentary films focusing on the culture and experiences of Native Americans, and production of “The Walk,” filmed during a 768-mile walk by Native American tribes from the Pala Reservation near San Diego to Sacramento, Calif.

“She's quite an extraordinary woman,” said New York film producer Janice Doskey, who has known Kelley for more than 20 years. “She has a very strong understanding of social justice, of what is right and what is wrong, what helps all people not just individuals.

“People who actually practice that are very rare.”

Doskey said Kelley often spoke about returning to her roots, but given the extent of her work in New York and her travels, she thought it doubtful.

Now, Doskey watches from afar as her friend and colleague follows her dream.

“She's superbly qualified because of her ability to mobilize people and take ideas that seem insurmountable, put them into action and make things work,” added Doskey who is eager to witness the day that Kelley reaches her goal.

“I will be leading the parade with a small army of people in New York who love her,” Droskey added. Kelley's years in New York came after stints as a classroom teacher first in Hartford and for one year at Brockton High School.

In her tenure as the city's cultural affairs director that ended with Yunits' term, Kelley said she introduced programs to create momentum, programs that promoted kindness in the schools, leadership for women. And she said she raised $180,000 for cultural affairs in addition to a $250,000 pledge to renovate the War Memorial Building.

That, she said, is an illustration of the leadership skills she wants to bring to the mayor's office.

Siskind, a Brockton native and attorney, is one of the familiar faces who have lined up to support Kelley.

“Gayle is an extremely talented and bright person and she has a record of accomplishments,” Siskind said. “Perhaps her greatest gift is her ability to assess situations, determine the needs of a particular situation, then to implement whatever changes need to be taken.”

Siskind said Kelley demonstrated those skills while leading the city's cultural affairs effort. “I saw her do an amazing number of things in a very short time,” he said. “There are 72 dialects spoke in Brockton. We are a rainbow in this city, but we don't have a leader who is listening and, worse, we don't have a leader who is out front.

“Gayle is that kind of person,” Siskind added.

With some $10,000 raised for her campaign as of early September, Kelley was confident she would reach her goal of $25,000 to get her through the preliminary election, though she said it is difficult to raise money in the city. She responded to those who say she is a spoiler in the race.

“I believe I am pulling from both Mr. Stewart and Mr. Harrington and also have my own base,” she said. Kelley said she has made campaigning her day job, a luxury afforded by her paid-job as a consultant that is often accomplished in off hours.

In between, she spends time with her “best friend,” a rescued dog named Spencer and is making plans for her Dec. 31 wedding to Stephen Kelly.

She's an author, a blues singer, has done voice-overs and works with Native Americans.

Her favorite places in Brockton are the neighborhoods, places Kelley said she is getting to know better as she walks door-to-door, meeting people and asking for their votes.

“Brockton really has everything,” she said. “We have to change our public image. I want DW Field Park to be our Central Park,” she said.

She said her background in building community among cultures will go a long way in bringing the city together and accomplishing those goals.

Elaine Allegrini can be reached at eallegrini@enterprisenews.com.