Meet the Democrat: Christpher Kelley

"Meet the Candidates" is a feature on Southington Patch designed to help you get to know your local candidates before you take to the polls this November. Each profile was submitted directly by the candidate. 

Take a moment to review each profile so you can be informed and prepared when you go to the polls on Nov. 5, 2013.

This week, we are looking at the Southington Town Council candidates.

Name: Christopher T. Kelley
Age: 23
Party/Board Sought: Democrat, Southington Town Council
Family Information: I am the only son of Kevin and Barbara Kelley. My father was a local businessman and former member of the Town Council and Board of Education, and my mother was a teacher in Bristol for many years. My grandfather and grandmother, Urbin and Dorothy Kelley were involved in town government as well with my grandfather having been on the Board of Education eventually serving as its Chairman and my grandmother was an Assistant Town Clerk. Each year I do my best to continue a tradition that started in my family of distributing ice cream to students at Kelley Elementary School and provide a scholarship to a graduating senior from the Southington High School; education is a very important part of life and it should be both enjoyable and within reach of everyone that wants to better themselves.
Occupation:Democrat, Southington Town Council Graduate Student pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree at the University of New Haven, concentrating in City Management.
Political Experience: I have interned with Christopher Murphy’s Campaign for the United States Senate.
Other Experience In my undergraduate college career, I served on the Western New England University Board of Trustee’s Student Affairs Committee as a Student Representative; Chairperson of the Peer Review Discipline Board; member of the University Discipline Board; a Peer Advisor to over 22 Freshmen and Transfer students; a representative to the Student Senate/Government Association and worked 3 jobs during my college career ranging from IT tech support to Event planning and helping families determine their college needs.

Why run for office?
I believe that the town needs an infusion of fresh ideas into its government and needs to actively hear the voice of a younger generation when decisions that affect people of all ages are being made. The town is great a place to raise a family in and gave me a great deal of support after losing both of my parents early on in life, so I feel a sense of obligation to do what I can to make the community a better place and give back to all those that helped me become the person I am today while making sure the town never loses its charm and characteristics. We are a community that cares for one another, essentially we are a family.

What do you feel is the biggest issue facing Southington today?
I believe that the town needs an infusion of fresh ideas into its government and needs to actively hear the voice of a younger generation when decisions that affect people of all ages are being made. The town is great a place to raise a family in and gave me a great deal of support after losing both of my parents early on in life, so I feel a sense of obligation to do what I can to make the community a better place and give back to all those that helped me become the person I am today while making sure the town never loses its charm and characteristics. We are a community that cares for one another, essentially we are a family. I personally believe that one of the biggest issues facing our community today is that we are trying to overdevelop the available areas of town for the sake of increasing a tax base rather than ensuring that our open spaces and towns resources are made available for future generations to enjoy. We need to continue developing the town economy but not at the cost of our town’s identity.

What skills do you have that you could bring to the community?
In my experiences through college and in the workplace I have developed a variety of skills, mainly that I know how to actively listen and engage with the individual person to make sure the real underlying issue is brought out and able to be addressed. I also believe that having someone with the background in Public Administration, namely surrounding City Management, would help the town in its decision making process by having not only the input of the city manager but someone else who understands the field and is directly responsible to the people of our community.

Anything else you would like to share?
If elected, I would like to see a return to the opportunity for voters to speak with a Council member outside of the normal meeting times on a regular basis, to that end I would make myself available during weeks where there is not a meeting for the Council so that voters can speak with me about their issues and receive an answer right away or quickly afterwards. Voters wishing to contact me may do so by either email (christkelley4tc@gmail.com) or on facebook.com/votechriskelley.

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