Mayoral election hits homestretch (Shelly Brindle)
At the University of Virginia, Michelle “Shelley” Brindle lettered in football.
“I was at UVA on a football scholarship,” Brindle said, laughing.
Brindle was one of three team managers. Recalling the experience of managing a Division I team, she said, “I’ve never really been intimidated by much.”
For 27 years, Brindle brought this attitude to HBO, where she was the first woman in the executive suite.
“I retired from HBO to pursue a chapter of service,” Brindle said. “I really wanted to leverage the experiences I had to build communities of growth and innovation for the public good.”
“I was at UVA on a football scholarship,” Brindle said, laughing.
Brindle was one of three team managers. Recalling the experience of managing a Division I team, she said, “I’ve never really been intimidated by much.”
For 27 years, Brindle brought this attitude to HBO, where she was the first woman in the executive suite.
“I retired from HBO to pursue a chapter of service,” Brindle said. “I really wanted to leverage the experiences I had to build communities of growth and innovation for the public good.”
But running for mayor wasn’t her original plan. Brindle said, “I was always interested in current events and the political process, but I never saw myself being that person.”
Brindle recalls walking through downtown Westfield on a weekday morning after her retirement, and noticing something that she had never seen.
“Town looks very different when no one is in it,” she said. “I saw a small decline in what I had experienced as a beautiful, vibrant downtown, and I started thinking that maybe this experience I have could be used right in my own community.”
While she planned to volunteer for the downtown task force, Brindle found herself thinking bigger—both as a resident displeased with the current administration, and as a leader.
“I recognize a culture of complacency when I see it,” she said. “I felt like there was a direct connection between complacency in our administration and what was happening in town.”
Brindle’s goals are “hyper-focused” on Westfield’s downtown area, where she sees the most opportunity to bring in revenue from sources other than tax increases. The main problems Westfield residents face, according to Brindle, are high taxes and inconsistent services. She plans to resolve this issue by starting in the heart of downtown.
“We need to be able to attract new businesses to town, like Summit has done with McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group,” she said. “That’s where the real opportunity is to drive revenues and increase foot traffic in town.”
Brindle has met with the mayors of Summit, Cranford and Fanwood. She discovered that each of these towns created specific goals and plans for their downtowns.
“We have a bunch of land-use ordinances, but we don’t have a vision for our town,” she said. “We have put ourselves in a position of reacting to what is happening on the retail side, instead of anticipating it and proactively providing solutions.”
Brindle also wants to bring the voice of the residents into the local government. “I am going to need and ask everyone in the community to be a part of the local government in the way that best leverages their skills and desires,” she said.
Brindle’s biggest fear when launching her campaign was giving up her anonymity. She said, “I loved being just a mom in town in tennis shoes on the sidelines.”
Now that it’s nearly Election Day, Brindle has begun to sacrifice that anonymity, with lawn signs and car bumper stickers all over town. Despite her initial hesitation, she has grown accustomed to life as a politician.
“The process of campaigning has been amazing in terms of the people I get to meet in personal ways,” said Brindle. “It’s a tradeoff. For me, meeting all these people and getting to know our community more than offsets any consideration of having to look nice when I go to the grocery store.”
Brindle recalls walking through downtown Westfield on a weekday morning after her retirement, and noticing something that she had never seen.
“Town looks very different when no one is in it,” she said. “I saw a small decline in what I had experienced as a beautiful, vibrant downtown, and I started thinking that maybe this experience I have could be used right in my own community.”
While she planned to volunteer for the downtown task force, Brindle found herself thinking bigger—both as a resident displeased with the current administration, and as a leader.
“I recognize a culture of complacency when I see it,” she said. “I felt like there was a direct connection between complacency in our administration and what was happening in town.”
Brindle’s goals are “hyper-focused” on Westfield’s downtown area, where she sees the most opportunity to bring in revenue from sources other than tax increases. The main problems Westfield residents face, according to Brindle, are high taxes and inconsistent services. She plans to resolve this issue by starting in the heart of downtown.
“We need to be able to attract new businesses to town, like Summit has done with McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group,” she said. “That’s where the real opportunity is to drive revenues and increase foot traffic in town.”
Brindle has met with the mayors of Summit, Cranford and Fanwood. She discovered that each of these towns created specific goals and plans for their downtowns.
“We have a bunch of land-use ordinances, but we don’t have a vision for our town,” she said. “We have put ourselves in a position of reacting to what is happening on the retail side, instead of anticipating it and proactively providing solutions.”
Brindle also wants to bring the voice of the residents into the local government. “I am going to need and ask everyone in the community to be a part of the local government in the way that best leverages their skills and desires,” she said.
Brindle’s biggest fear when launching her campaign was giving up her anonymity. She said, “I loved being just a mom in town in tennis shoes on the sidelines.”
Now that it’s nearly Election Day, Brindle has begun to sacrifice that anonymity, with lawn signs and car bumper stickers all over town. Despite her initial hesitation, she has grown accustomed to life as a politician.
“The process of campaigning has been amazing in terms of the people I get to meet in personal ways,” said Brindle. “It’s a tradeoff. For me, meeting all these people and getting to know our community more than offsets any consideration of having to look nice when I go to the grocery store.”
