Kelly doing well after hip replacement & politics
Ex-mayor gets life back after 11 mos. in office
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer

Daniel J. Kelly

BRICK TOWNSHIP - During the 11 months he served as mayor, Daniel J. Kelly's cell phone rang constantly. These days it barely rings at all.

And that's fine with him.

Kelly, 66, is recovering from the hip replacement surgery he had Nov. 16 at the Rothman Institute's satellite services unit at Atlantic City Medical Center. Doctors discovered during the operation that arthritis had damaged his hip even more than they had originally thought.

"It should have been done a long time ago, Kelly said. "It really had progressed."

He was discharged three days after the surgery and went straight back to his Forge Pond Road home, rather than go to a rehabilitation facility.

"Had I won the election, I was going to be out a minimum amount of time and get back in and to the job," he said. "Now I just want to get better."

Kelly, a Democrat, lost the mayoral election Nov. 6 to Republican Township Council President Stephen C. Acropolis. He was appointed Jan. 4 by the GOP-controlled Township Council to serve as mayor to replace former Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli.

Scarpelli resigned Dec. 8, 2006, for what he said were "personal" reasons. One month later, he pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17.

Kelly spent several days after the election pondering his defeat and wondering what he could have done better during the bitter mayoral campaign. The GOP ran ad after ad in an attempt to link Kelly with Scarpelli, a connection Kelly denies to this day.

"People either didn't know me or didn't believe I wasn't part of the Joe Scarpelli thing," he said.

Kelly's blood pressure skyrocketed during the last month of the campaign. He was in a lot of pain from his hip. By his own account, he was not well. Doctors were so concerned about his blood pressure that they ordered a stress test before they proceeded with the surgery.

"My health was as bad as it could be," Kelly said.

Things are different now.

His blood pressure is back to normal. And while he still has some residual pain from the surgery, he is already able to walk almost a mile, an impossibility during the past year.

"I think I'm going to get my life back," Kelly said.

When asked if he has any plans of getting back into politics, he laughs.

"Not at the moment," Kelly said.

And he has no problem accepting his election defeat.

"It's over," he said. "The township has to move on. Steve has two years to get his point across. He has all that experience. Let's see how it works for the town."

Kelly does miss serving on the township Planning Board. He was a board member for almost 12 years and served as board president the last four years.

"I think a lot was accomplished," he said. "They are good people. Nobody always agreed or always disagreed. I miss that."

But he does hope to help rebuild Brick's tattered Democratic Party and turn it into a more unified organization. The Republicans, including three incumbents, took all four Township Council seats in this year's election.

Kelly has no regrets about what he calls his "caretaker" role as mayor for most of 2007.

"It was an experience," he said. "I don't regret it. But it's nice to be free again."