Mayor expected to announce a new Chief of Staff - took long enough.

News 100 greenBy 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.

BrianKellyHe 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.

Return to the Front page
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

4 comments to Mayor expected to announce a new Chief of Staff – took long enough.

  • Rob

    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.

  • Yvonne

    At least he is local and not from Vancouver

  • Lucy

    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.

  • tim

    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.