Randy Kelly has announced his candidacy for South Bend Common Council. Kelly is running in the 3rd District currently occupied by Valerie Schey, who was first elected in 2011.
District 3 spans the River Park and Sunnymede neighborhoods, along with areas just south of the St. Joseph River to Altgeld Street.
Kelly previously served on the Common Council to fill the seat of his father, Roland Kelly, who was a member of the Council for 16 years.
“In years past, the council has been effective through the use of intelligent dialogue and respectful debate. There is no progress without it,” Kelly said in a statement.
During his time on the Common Council, Kelly was a co-sponsor to a bill that would have added protections for LGBT persons to South Bend’s Human Rights Ordinance.
The bill did not pass in 2007, but ultimately became law in 2012 in a 6-3 vote after a number of new members were sworn into office. Schey was one of the votes in favor of the ordinance in 2012.
Kelly is a graduate of John Adams High School and the University of Notre Dame. He lives in the Sunnymede neighborhood where he grew up.
His prior experience includes work as the Community Development Director for the City of South Bend and DTSB. He is currently a middle school teacher at the Montessori Academy. Kelly has served on the Martin Luther King Foundation Board, The Public Education Foundation Board and the Century Center Board of Managers.
Kelly emphasized that his candidacy is for “the advancement of our city, not personal agendas.”
“My father Roland served on the council for 16 years, and I had the privilege of serving after his death. During that time there were, of course, contentious issues, but they were addressed in a professional and courteous way that promoted the notion that we’re all in this together,” Kelly says.
“South Bend, and its 3rd District, has been my home for the majority of my life. This is where I was raised and where I have chosen to live and to raise my children. So its vitality is very important to me. I genuinely believe that our city is at the cusp of a renewed and vibrant future. Yet, to achieve our potential, to make the most of the opportunities before us, we have to work together.”
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2 Comments
I would like to know how you plan to include our much neglected neighborhood South of ‘the tracks’ to Altgeld Street in your plans should you be elected to represent the Third District of The South Bend Common Council. I am currently working on starting a neighborhood Association: Miami Village Neighborhood Association from roughly Calvert St. on the North, Ridgedale on the South, High Street (roughly) on the West and Ironwood on the East. If you are able to attend a meeting on December 2, 6 PM at the Tutt Library on Miami Street, we would be very happy to have you join us.
Hope Sibley Vollmer
Hello Hope. I’ve left you a couple of Facebook messages and not sure if you’ve seen them.