Michael Kelley, running for District 2 City Council, spoke at the Ward 3 Democratic Committee’s Candidates Night on Wednesday, June 21st. At the end of the evening, the committee voted to endorse Kelley.
From his website, Kelley describes himself:
“Mike Kelley is a longtime South Ender, public servant and startup founder running for District 2 City Council in Boston. He is a former member of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 1726. He served as aide to former Mayor Tom Menino, as well as 2001 Mayoral Campaign Manager, and Directed the City of Boston’s Rental Housing Resource Center from 2002-2008. As an entrepreneur, he founded Hire Me Local, a startup dedicated to connecting local people to local services. He and his husband Ricardo currently reside in Bay Village.”
Kelley spoke about how a community banded together to help his family purchase a business. In doing so, his family was able to move out of public housing and into a private home, improving their lives. He said, “We have to remember that we didn’t do it our own, that people helped us, and we have to always give back. And so it’s that value that I take with me thats made me want to have a life of public service.”
Speaking about the issues, Kelley focussed on affordable housing, public schools, and small businesses. Kelley believes their needs to be more affordable housing for people in a city where it’s been becoming more and more expensive to live in. He mentioned that families will leave the city depending on what school their children are assigned to. “That’s a problem, and we need to fix it. It’s a fixable problem. As your city councilor I want to focus on that from day one,” As a previous small business owner, Kelley said, “Small businesses and local businesses are the backbone of our communities.”
Watch the video of Michael Kelley at the Ward 3 Candidates Night for full coverage. You can find out more information about Kelley on his website
Candidates running for District 2 City Council include: Michael Kelley (Endorsed by Ward 3 Democrats), Ed Flynn, Corey Dinopoulos, Peter Lin-Marcus, and Joseph Kebartas. District 2 includes Downtown, South Boston, and the South End. The preliminary election will be on September 26th, 2017. The two candidates selected from that election will appear on the general municipal election ballot on November 7th, 2017.
Follow us for more on all of the candidates who came to speak at Candidates Night. For more information on the District 2 City Council Race, follow our District 2 Tag.
