By Pepper Parr
March 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Finally – the Mayor is going to have a Chief of Staff – not sure if Brian Kelly will be given that title – his background appears to be in government relations – where he worked at McMaster and York University
The Mayor has been without a Chief of Staff since Jackie Isada left the Mayor’s office to do government relations work for McMaster University.
Kelly has some politics under his belt he ran in Hamilton where he got 172 voters placing 9th in a field of 15 candidates.
He has a pedigree that is stronger than the Mayor’s except for one thing – the Mayor has won a number of elections.
We can expect an announcement out of city hall in the near future – we understand Kelly is due to pick up his business cards sometime next week
As for the pedigree – it’s extensive:
Advisor, Government Relations, Office of the President, York University – July 2012 – Present (2 years 9 months)Toronto
Candidate for municipal office; City of Hamilton – July 2014 – October 2014 (4 months)Hamilton
Principal: Brian Kelly Consulting. 2011 – July 2012 (1 year)Hamilton, Ontario
Expertise in federal, provincial and municipal government relations
Senior Advisor to the President on Government Relations, McMaster University
2007 – 2011 (4 years)Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Vice President: Public Affairs Strategy Group, 1998 – 2007 (9 years)Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Director of Government Relations: AT&T Corporation, 1995 – 1998 (3 years) Ottawa, Canada Area
UPS: Manager of Government Affairs, 1992 – 1995 (3 years) Toronto, Canada Area
Nortel Networks, Manager of Environmental Affairs, Director of Government Affairs
1988 – 1992 (4 years) Toronto, Ottawa, Ontario
Manager of Government Relations and Environmental Affairs: Bell Canada, 1986 – 1988 (2 years) Toronto, Canada Area
Regional Manager for Eastern Canada, Canadian Printing Industries Association, 1984 – 1986 (2 years) Toronto
Manager: Environment Canada, Acid Rain Office, 1984 – 1984 (less than a year) Toronto, Canada Area
Special Assistant to the Minister; Department of National Defence/ Department of Public Works
1980 – 1984 (4 years) Ottawa.
Senior consultant in public policy and government relations serving clients in the private sector, industry associations, quasi-public sector and non-profits – clients served include: Vancouver Port Authority; AT&T Corp; Baxter Corp; Hydro Quebec; Fairmont Hotels; Bio-Rad Laboratories; Canadian Electricity Association; InterVISTAS; Canadian Cancer Society; Cogeco Cable.
Kelly has been around. He told voters in Hamilton that the “city needs to play nice with the province” when he was running for office – words that certainly must have made Mayor Goldring’s ears perk up.
Kelly placed 9th in a field of xx candidates – talking 2.46% of the vote with 172 ballots.
Kelly will not be telling Goldring how to win elections.
It’s an intriguing decision by Goldring. Kelly has jumped around a lot. He’s also an aspiring politician whose window to enter politics is fading, so one has to wonder whether a support role is the right fit. That said, he has experience and (hopefully) a good network by now. Congratulations and good luck to him.
At least he is local and not from Vancouver
Is there a job description for chief of staff? It seems that the previous chief of staff she was just used to organize the mayor’s meeting schedule like a personal secretary. Mr. Kelly seems like he can do more than that. Maybe even bring some strength to the office of the mayor. Good luck to Mr. Kelly.
All his resume tells me is he won’t last very long. Short tenured in almost all of his past positions. Sounds like a Goldring hire.