At August council meeting, former councilman lambastes Republicans for lack of candor

Peter Kelley. | Laura Bailey photo

Posted By: Jack Krampitz September 5, 2023

By Jack Krampitz

The controversy over the Republican Town Committee’s endorsement of Jen Van Gorder for the Board of Education took almost all of the attention during the public comment portion of the Aug. 8 City Council meeting, but not all of it.

Peter Kelley, former councilperson from the 2nd district, called the mayor and city council to task for their taking credit for all the construction and progress that has been taking place in the city for the last few years.

“Your administration was handed 10 projects on a silver platter,” Kelley said. “The appropriate course action for all of you would be to be acknowledge the work done as we, the previous administration, acknowledged the work done with Bristol Health, the renovated school, and other projects which we took over in 2017 and then ensured they crossed the finish line.

“Your denial of these documented facts is troubling, along with being a weak and untruthful attempt to mislead Bristol voters.”

Kelly listed the following chronology of projects in the downtown area:

  • May 12, 2018 — an informational meeting was held at the Riverview Apartments to discuss the Route 72/69 intersection realignment project. This was following months of work to remove the Wah Lung building from the DOT’s historic preservation list.
  • The summer of 2018 — A Tax Increment Financing Master Plan for Downtown was adopted.
  • September 2018 – the Brownfield Sessions Land Bank and Partnership interviews occurred.
  • Feb. 2, 2020 — Discussion of the Riverside Gateway Streetscape project.
  • May 2020 — Kind Care site plan was approved. This utilized the Opportunity Zone to land a $16 million loan.
  • Jan. 12, 2021 — The first Wheeler Health inquiry was received. The accrediting process happened internally because of funding commitment deadlines. The plan was subsequently derailed by the Republican council shortly after the election. This required a second meeting and, in an attempt, to save face, the mayor and the council moved the parcel property lines to create a smaller block.

“Now, tonight, as you say,” Kelly concluded, “‘Shovels are in the ground.’  But the only reason shovels are in the ground is because of the hard work of the City Hall staff, the Economic Development Commission and the former council who spent months planning for these projects.

Kelly added additional accomplishments outside of the downtown area under the previous administration of Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu.

  • The ARPA Taskforce
  • Bristol Works was discussed on Aug. 21, 2019.
  • The Maker Space conversation occurred on Sept. 4, 2019. This was the precursor to the Bristol Bizarre.
  • The Double Tree Expansion in 2019.
  • The Theis Steel Transition occurred in 2020.
  • The renovation of the Memorial Boulevard School and Rockwell Theatre.
  • The creation of the Opioid Task Force, the Arts and Culture Commission and the Diversity Council

“None of you contributed to the development in downtown Bristol,” Kelley said. “To make that claim is delusional. The development you see going on downtown was planned, negotiated and initiated by the previous administration that I was proud to be a part of.”

Caggiano, from the dais were he chaired the meeting, stated that City Hall is hopefully opening up in the next month or two and “We (his administration) have been considerate of all of you, so there will be a plaque for the previous administration as well and we will invite you to that grand opening as well, hopefully in September or October.”

The next council meeting is Sept. 12.

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