Mayoral candidate Kelly successfully closes Soapbox Speeches in the Park series at Miner Park
Brian Kelly Successfully Launched his Soapbox Speeches in the Park Series on Wilkes-Barre, PA’s Public Square on April 17. Twenty-five Soapbox speeches later, Kelly closed out the Series Sunday at Miner Park.
At 5:00 PM Friday, April 17, the Brian Kelly for Mayor Campaign moved to Public Square in Wilkes-Barre for the first speech in a series of 25 speeches at various parks in the City. Mr. Kelly addressed a small crowd opposite Rodano’s new Franklin’s establishment on the Square. At 2:00 PM Sunday, April 26, Kelly stared the wind in the face and spoke to the passers-by and the cars buzzing by on Old River Road. During the 25-speech Soapbox Series, Brian delivered speeches for anywhere from zero to about ten standing listeners. Kelly says he’d do it again in an instant as it brought him more in touch with the City.
Kelly discussed his background and his plan to fight violent crime in the city. He also reiterated his call for Republicans to write him in during the primary election. Then, he took the time to remind City Council that they still have nine months left on their terms and that they should watch who they blame in the current crime blame game. Kelly asked “Is it fair they blame Mayor Leighton for everything . . . while Wilkes-Barre is blowing up from gangs and drugs and thugs? Where are their solutions?”
Kelly said he is not a politician and is not on Council and is not part of the Administration and he noted: “I am not from one of the special privileged families in Wilkes-Barre who know somebody.” Kelly went on to say:
“I Know Nobody. I Owe Nobody. I am Owned by Nobody. I do not like how it’s been going here in Wilkes Barre.”
Kelly cited his background as a problem solver as an IBM Senior Systems Engineer and noted how he networked the campus at College Misericordia while teaching Computer Science there. He also was a professor on the faculty of Marywood’s Business Information Technology Department, and he taught courses in both King’s Healthcare Administration and Computers & Information Systems Departments.
Kelly likes to talk about his 58 books: “My last book is titled: Wilkes-Barre PA: Return to Glory. I am serious about turning our city around for keeps!”
Kelly discussed his detailed plan for crime: “My first act after being elected Mayor will be to hire an expert Public Safety Director / Police Commissioner. The next act will be to create a new special violent crime unit and to hire an expert supervisor. Members of this unit would be fighting violent crime, and that is it. They would not engage in domestic abuse problems or in minor burglaries or traffic violations. They would have no such duties. They would fight organized gang drug crime and the homicides that result, and this unit would send the bad guys packing as quickly as they came here.”
Kelly said that our City has been unprepared. We are still unprepared. To the bad guys, we are like babes in the woods. They love coming here. Trying the same ole same ole has not cut it and will not cut it. We have to crush this problem to bits. The police have to get out of their comfort zones so the people can be comfortable living in their Wilkes-Barre homes again.
Kelly wrapped up by asserting that he is the underdog in the race. He then directed his attention to those in the city who he says have never been represented: “The people who will vote for me are not the elite; not the political, not the privileged . . . think of me as the guy who represents the rest of the City — that part of the Wilkes-Barre citizenry that has never been represented…”
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Brian W. Kelly, M.B.A. Information Technology Consultant,
Retired IBM Senior Systems Engineer,
Retired Assistant Professor, Business & Information Technology
Marywood University, Scranton, Pennsylvania 18509
…..
Brian W. Kelly is pleased to be running for Mayor (2015) as a JFK Democrat in his home town — Wilkes-Barre, PA
In a letter to George Washington on the Constitutionality of the Bank of the United States, 1791
…all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people… to take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.
Thomas Jefferson
The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.
Alexis de Toqueville
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.
Alexis de Toqueville
Above quote also attributed to Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813)
