Kelly enjoyed job but won't miss the politics Former mayor looks back on 11 stormy months in office BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer There was little left on Daniel J. Kelly's desk in town hall on his last morning as mayor. A box of tissues, a computer and a phone were all that remained. The pictures of his wife, three grown sons and his four grandchildren had been packed away. Daniel J. Kelly And Dan Kelly was at peace with himself and his tumultuous 11 months in office. It all came to an end Nov. 6, when he lost to Republican Township Council President Stephen C. Acropolis in the race for the remaining two years of former longtime Democratic Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli's term. "I was a caretaker," Kelly said. "I came in as a caretaker. My goal was to do some good." He came into office in January, under unusual circumstances. The GOP-controlled Township Council picked him over former Mayor Daniel F. Newman and former Councilwoman Kim Casten to replace the now-disgraced Scarpelli. Scarpelli resigned last Dec. 8 for "personal reasons." But he pleaded guilty in federal court one month later to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer. Kelly said at his Jan. 5 swearing-in ceremony he hoped to model his administration after two of his heroes who were also thrust into office - President Gerald R. Ford and state Senate President Richard J. Codey. "I'm here today because of circumstances beyond our control," he told the audience. "I've been asked to steer the ship through somewhat similar circumstances." He was at his desk in town hall every morning, unlike his predecessor. He met with township department heads and employees. He told them that what Scarpelli had done was no reflection on them. He attended most Township Council meetings, even though he was not required to by state statute. Kelly lost to Acropolis, who has served 12 years on the council, by 1,861 votes. The vote totals were 10,001 for Acropolis and 8,140 for Kelly. "Tuesday night into Wednesday, I beat myself up thinking, what did I do wrong, what could I have done better," he said. "But with what I had to work with when I came in … a dysfunctional Democratic Party with little organization … and when you think about how we were outspent." He estimates the Republicans spent well over $200,000 in the mayoral race and the race for the four Township Council seats. "We were closer to $30,000," Kelly said. "We felt we had a chance. The polls said we had a chance." His running mates, Anthony Lazroe, Michael Mauro, Anthony D'Elia and Paul Panuska, are all "good guys," Kelly said. "They worked hard," he said. "I'm disappointed for them." The Democratic leadership, on both the municipal and county level, has to change, he said. "I hate to insult anybody, but if it stays the same, it's [election results] going to be the same," Kelly said. "Anybody driving south across the Raritan bridge who decides to remain a Democrat has a lot of guts." Kelly's polling place near his Forge Pond Road home houses three voting districts. When Kelly went to vote on Nov. 6, he saw Republican poll watchers on site, but no Democratic poll watchers. "We had none," he said. Kelly made sure the door to the mayor's office literally stayed open during his 11 months on the job. He wanted to be as accessible to the public as possible. He "parked his ego" at the door. "My goal is getting along with people," he said. "I enjoyed the people and I particularly enjoyed the schools." What won't he miss? "The politics," he says without hesitation. "The [Township Council] meetings on Tuesday nights." The GOP campaign fliers blatantly tried to link Kelly, who served on the township Planning Board for 12 years, to Scarpelli. One sent out a week before the election had a faded picture of Kelly and a shot of a dour-looking Scarpelli both peeping out of a pea pod. "On November 6, if you vote for Dan Kelly as mayor, it will be just like voting for Joe Scarpelli," the flier read. "Like peas in a pod. Kelly & Scarpelli." "That hurt," Kelly said. "It was so blatantly untrue that somebody would even think that way. It was just unfair. I was hoping I could change the perceptions, but apparently I didn't. I came here to help for 11 months and I did the best job I could." He clashed with the GOP members on the council a number of times. He presented a municipal budget nine weeks after he took office that called for a 12.9- cent increase in the municipal purposes tax rate. The hike was necessary to deal with poor budgeting practices of the past, like using one-shot revenues and selling off municipal assets, he said. Acropolis and the GOP council members, three who were up for re-election, said no. They deferred school taxes and used more of the surplus to trim the increase to 4.9 cents. "There's still a problem and somebody is going to have to deal with it," Kelly said. "I tried in a small way." Kelly also called for a referendum on the proposed purchase of the Ocean Ice Palace on Chambers Bridge Road for a township community center. He earned the wrath of GOP council members when he said he thought a number of municipal appointments made on Jan. 1 should have been his to make, as mayor. Kelly took the matter into court. His original filing had no names named in the complaint. Kelly said he just wanted an answer as to whether Township Clerk Virginia Lampman had the legal right to make the appointments on New Year's Day, only a few days before he took office. The matter went to court. Ocean County Superior Judge Frank A. Buczynski eventually ruled the appointments were valid. By then, the township had racked up more than $77,000 in legal fees. Kelly, 66, also dealt with some health problems during his time in office. "For whatever reason, God only knows, I had lousy health for 11 months," he said. Kelly, who has had rheumatoid arthritis for years, will undergo hip replacement surgery on Nov. 16. His blood pressure soared over the last few weeks of the campaign. The pain in his hip made it almost impossible to exercise. He is looking forward to getting back into shape, once he's recovered from the operation. "I've lived in a gym all my life," he said. "The only way I control my weight is with exercise. For the last 11 months, I haven't." Gerri, his wife of 42 years, took the election results well, Kelly said. "It's not going to break her heart, let me put it that way," he joked. The Kellys are looking forward to spending more time with friends and eventually getting back to sailing on their boat, the "Irish Rover." "We have a lot of good friends," he said. "We missed a lot of time with them." Employees in town hall had breakfast ready for Kelly when he came to work Friday morning. They took him out for a farewell lunch later on. He still plans to attend some Township Council meetings once he has recovered from his surgery. But this time, he'll be sitting in the audience. "I hope to be able to come to a number of them, just to support Kathy Russell [Township Councilwoman Kathy Russell, the lone Democrat]. "I think Kathy Russell is going to have a rough two years," Kelly said.