Making changes, big and small

Floyd L. Brandt
Posted 8/17/18

If eight years on the Torrington City Council has taught mayoral candidate Dennis Kelly anything, it’s there’s always something to learn.

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Making changes, big and small

Posted

TORRINGTON – If eight years on the Torrington City Council has taught mayoral candidate Dennis Kelly anything, it’s there’s always something to learn.

“I love it,” Kelly said. “You learn something new every time.”

Running for mayor,  Kelly was born in Nebraska and raised in Kansas. He went to school in Colorado and moved to Wyoming where he calls Torrington home.

Kelly moved to Laramie in 1972 where he got married then moved to Torrington in 1976, teaching auto mechanics for three years. After leaving the teaching profession he went to work for the Gulley Auto Company.

Working for another motor company for 10 years, he eventually opened his own business. Kelly has owned his business and shop for 26 years. 

One thing he’s learned is how slow the wheels of government turn.

“My first year on council we went down to the (Wyoming Association of Municipalities) meeting in Cheyenne, the meeting for all the new guys and gals,” Kelly said. 

“Went in there and there was a lawyer from Laramie leading the talk. He said ‘now don’t anybody think that government is run like a business, because it’s not.,’” said Kelly. “I quickly found out that it’s not run like a business, there is too much procrastination, to many ways of doing things.”

With the frustration of government, Kelly finds the process much too slow, he found things he would like to change as mayor. 

When asked what his plans for change are, however, Kelly said, “I am not going to tell you. There will be some changes made, that is all I’m going to say.

“Streamline the government the operations,” Kelly said. “Make small changes, make some big ones.”

Kelly said his qualifications to be mayor include his “26 years in business and eight years on the council.” 

All candidates at the state, county and local level for the primary election were sent questionnaires in early July, with the answers from those who replied published Wednesday in a supplement to The Telegram. Kelly expanded on his qualifications in his questionnaire, with his responses reprinted below.

“Running for mayor because after eight years on the council I felt I could better serve the people of Torrington as their Mayor,” he wrote. “I am not a politician, never have claimed to be, I just want to be the peoples voice in government.”

“The most important issues that I would face would be dwindling revenue. Grant money is getting harder to get. Consensus block grants(sic) are no longer available. State funding is not a sure thing either. With a new governor maybe he, or she will be more small-town friendly and take into consideration how hard it is for small border towns to keep tax dollars at home.

Then there is the aging infrastructure to deal with, water and sewer lines that are always failing.”