BILL KELLY
Osceola City Administrator

I was born in Staten Island, New York. Mom and Dad already had two daughters, I was the third child, and that made the current household of the Kellys too small. Like a lot of young executives, my dad decided to move us to the suburbs. We moved to a small town in New Jersey, which wasn't too far away, so he could commute by train. We lived there until I was nine years old and at that time my dad got a new job working for a paint company in Boston.

My dad found us a house under construction, which my parents bought in a town called Andover, which coincidently was my dad's hometown. It is an old, old town that was established in 1645. My mom and dad paid $35,000 for our house while it was being built and thought that was outrageous.

I went to elementary and high school there. I wasn't a spectacularly good student. There were 499 kids in my graduating class and my rank was 250, so statistically that made me the average student. When I graduated from high school, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I was kind of interested in archeology but I wasn't sure I wanted to make a career of it. I worked for a year for Raytheon, which had a big plant a couple miles away from our house. They made guidance and communication systems for a couple of different types of missiles for the United States. That was a pretty valuable life lesson. I knew at year-end, "I don't want to do this all my life. I want something better, which means I have to go to college."

I enrolled at the local community college, went there a couple years and transferred as a junior to the University of Arizona, because they had a wonderful reputation as one of the best universities in the country for archeology, particularly for students interested in North American archeology. I met my wife, Kathy, while I was there, earned my undergraduate degree, and did some graduate work. I had a graduate assistanceship as the head resident. I was in charge of the men's dormitory for which I was paid $49.68 a week.

From there I went back east, and did the same thing. I ran a dormitory at Franklin Pierce College, a small private liberal arts school. I worked there for a couple years, and managed to get my wife back east. She was eager to come because she had spent her whole life growing up in Arizona, but her family had come from New England. She had heard all the stories about building snowmen, the leaves changing color in the fall, covered bridges, pumpkins, the ocean and all that stuff, so she was pretty excited being in the East.

I got a job as an area coordinator for Northeastern University in Boston. That was a very large institution and had a huge student housing program. I was the intermediate supervisor for a large area of different dormitories and apartment buildings. I supervised the people who were running those individual residence units. Because I was full-time professional staff, there was a tuition waver so I started doing my Masters' degree I chose public administration on the advice of people I respected, who suggested it would be a good, all-purpose degree which would open up a lot of opportunities.

My work was full-time, and I was going to school at night. After a couple years I decided to start sending out resumes, to which I got the typical response — a very thin one-page thank you letter. One day I got a letter, which I almost didn't open because I figured it was just another rejection. When I finally opened it, I discovered it was from a small town in Massachusetts to which I'd sent a résumé. They wanted me to come for an interview, so on the designated evening, my wife and I drove to their town hall. She waited outside because she didn't want me to be nervous in front of her. I was asked a lot of questions, to which I had to truthfully say, "I don't know. I don't know the answer because I don't know what that means. If I had the job, I would obviously make the effort to find the answer as quickly as possible."

I walked out thinking I could cross it off as having been a good experience as my first non-collegiate job interview, nothing more, so I was very surprised when I got the job. I don't know if I impressed them with my honesty, just admitting there was a lot I didn't know, but would be willing to learn. I hadn't known the answer to half their questions, but they must have seen something they liked. That became my first job as a municipal administrator of Shirley, Massachusetts.

While we were in Shirley, our first son, Bob, was born. I hadn't finished my Master's degree so I worked full time for the town, took the train into Boston several nights a week and finished my Master's degree in a couple years. Shirley knew they were a training ground for young men and women coming into the field. They were happy with that.

From there I was town manager of Fairhaven, Vermont, another old New England town. It was an opportunity because the town had water and waste water systems, which Shirley didn't have. I needed to have a lot more first hand information, knowledge and experience about how those facilities operate. While we were there, our second child, Marie, was born.

We had a lot of fun in the East, but Kathy started to get a little homesick. After a few years she said, "Why don't you start sending résumés to Arizona?" I liked the time I had spent there so I agreed and was called for an interview in Holbrook, Arizona. It is a small town in northeast Arizona on the border with the Navaho Reservation. I was their manager for about 3 1/2 years, during which time two of our children, Will and Richard were born. Will was born at the hospital in Flagstaff, Arizona. Richard was born in the hospital at Show Low, Arizona.

Holbrook was a community in transition and they had a lot of problems. Instead of growing, it was actually shrinking, and a lot of the problems associated with a community in decline caused controversy, but there came a point when I realized I had done everything I could for them. I told them, "I know the direction things are headed.." It was an amicable parting.

I drove my wife crazy for a few months puttering around, still sending out résumés and got a call from a guy who wanted me to come down to another little town — Miami, Arizona. It was in central Arizona, a little mining town that had never had any kind of manager. They had challenges with environmental regulations and changing state laws, and knew they needed help. They had initially asked a retired manager to come help them, but he had other commitments so he said, "I know a guy who will come in and do this for you."

That is what I did. Basically my job was to set up a town manager form of government and get the staff, the mayor, the council, and the public accustomed to and comfortable with that. They made an offer to have me stay on and I was pretty up-front with them, saying, "I'm looking for a different opportunity than what you have here." They understood that.

While I was there, the town of Bisbee, Arizona, which is on the border with Mexico, was advertising for a manager. I'd been to Bisbee when I was at the University, so I remembered it and thought it was an interesting place. It was another old mining town way up in the mountains. The mines had shut down in the late 70s, so almost overnight over half the population left for New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, or California — wherever there was hard rock mining. In the early 80s, it was possible to buy almost any house for under $12,000.

I knew Bisbee would be a challenge. The terrain as well as the circumstances made it unique. It consisted of very distinct neighborhoods, and eventually developed it into an artists' colony. There were a lot of eccentric people.

I should have known something was up when I went for the interview. They had made reservations for me at the local hotel. I drove there and checked in. My appointment was at the City Hall at 8:30 in the morning. I was there. They had the council chambers all set up for what looked like a fairly large group of people. They had arranged for 10 candidates to come for the initial interview. There was one internal candidate, already working for the city, who had applied for the job. I was the only external candidate who showed up. I was aware there was something unusual, but I was working in Miami, where I had a rented room and was driving back home to Holbrook on weekends to be with my wife and kids. I had done that for a year and I just wanted to get to a place where we could all get settled in together.

I went through this very odd process of being the only person beside the internal candidate who showed up for the interview, that had clearly been set up for a much larger number of people. I had an interview with the council, went home, then didn't hear anything for a month or two. I figured they had decided, "We did something wrong. We have to go back and restart the process." Finally, almost two months later, I had a phone call from the mayor of Bisbee saying, "If you are interested, we would like to offer you the job." I was surprised, to say the least. The vote to offer me employment was 4-3.

Life in Bisbee was never boring. There was always something happening, and after four years I was asked to leave by the city council on a 4-3 vote. It was ironic that the person who cast the original tie-breaking vote to offer me employment was the person who wound up casting the tie-breaking vote to end my employment. I look back on it and realize I'd been warned by people, "You don't want to go to Bisbee." But I figured, "I've seen a lot. I can handle it." I probably should have listened to them.

I left Bisbee and was puttering around the house for a few weeks when the newly elected mayor of Tombstone, Arizona called me and said, "I just got elected and I'm cleaning house. I need somebody who knows what they are doing, who knows Arizona municipal government and law. Would you come down and be my acting city clerk?" which was the only position Tombstone had. I went there, met with the council, and we agreed on what I would be paid. It was the same kind of conditions — "I'll come down and help you get things organized and keep things flowing, handle the business, correspondence, budget and all but I've got to be looking for full-time employment." That was acceptable. I was there from November of 2000 to about March of 2001.

I had continued to send out resumes and was asked to come to Fort Madison, Iowa. I had an interview and was offered the job. I was there for 5 1/4 years at which time there was an election with a new mayor and new council and they wanted to go in a new direction. They weren't sure what that direction was, but they knew they didn't want to go there with me, so they asked for my resignation and I complied.

This broad exposure to different parts of the country has been interesting. The population in Shirley and Fairhaven, Vermont were homogeneous. Life in Holbrook was very different. It was a railroad town, founded because of the railroad construction. Holbrook's economy was always based on the railroad and communication. It was culturally and racially very diverse.

Miami, Arizona was probably about 70% Hispanic. The mining fanailies that stayed on in Bisbee were an amalgamation of Serbians, Welchmen, Irish, German, and you-name-it. There were also many Hispanic people because they were right on the border with Mexico. I had no problem adjusting. It didn't matter what your nationality, you wanted your trash picked up when it was supposed to be picked up, and if your sewer line backed up, you would let the city know you weren't happy about that. For all the external differences between people, whether it is of cultural or national origin, people are pretty much the same. We have far more commonalities than differences.

I've always tried to get involved in community activities whether it is being in Eagles or Rotary Club. Obviously, as the kids were growing up, I was involved in a lot of school activities and athletic programs — at Pop Warner football games or the junior high games, band competitions, or track meets. We were just average parents and responded if there were calls for volunteers to run the timing box, be timers for the 100 meter dashes, check the sand pit for the long jump. I've done that and discovered that's where I got to know people best.

I have rung bells for the Salvation Army, helped with fund raising for community projects, advocating for what people in the community need to make their lives better. It is kind of a standing joke with city managers that if you can get your wife to do the shopping, she will be able to do it a lot faster because, for instance, there are so many times I will have my wife's list. There are 10 items. I'm thinking I'd ought to be able to knock this off in 15 minutes. An hour later my wife, who has become accustomed to it, remarks, "How come it took you an hour? The grocery store is just down the street." "Well, I had to talk to Mr. Jones in the frozen food section, and Mrs. Smith wanted to talk to me where the canned goods are, when I got to the breads, Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez were there and they had some questions." You can't ignore people. You have to make yourself available and if they happen to catch you at the grocery store or elsewhere, you can't and don't want to brush them off.

Kathy and I have been married for 26 years. Our four children are maturing. Bob is 23. He is a graduate of Iowa State University. Our daughter Marie is 20. She attends Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, studying bio-medical engineering. Our son Will is 18. He is attending the University of Arizona. Our youngest, Richard, is 15, a sophomore in high school.

I have three sisters I am very proud of. My older sister, Susan, is a writer, has written and had published a series of detective novels, has done some short crime/detective stories, has written extensively on some true crime cases, has been published by a number of magazines and been interviewed a lot. On more than one occasion Boston stations have called on her to be a talking-head for some crime or scandal that has the attention of the media at the time. She did an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries." She is very versatile in the writing she has done.

My sister Nancy is a college administrator, and has published a couple of scholarly articles related to women in university and other public administration. She is currently writing a book about college administration.

My younger sister, Karen, has two books published under her own name, has been an editor for the Book of the Month Club and a couple of other major publishers as well. She normally makes her living as a ghost writer. She has probably ghosted a dozen books, many for celebrities. Karen is married to a professional jazz musician. They have a little boy named Bix.

I am glad to be in Osceola. I see a very bright future for the town because of a combination of things. Obviously one is the infrastructure in terms of the Interstate, the railroad, Highway 34, and its proximity to the Des Moines and the Kansas City areas. The southern third of Iowa is the prettiest part, with the rolling hills and the scenery. There are so many opportunities here.

My hobbies and interests: Throughout the years, I have continued to be interested in and have had some experience with archeology. When I was a graduate student at U of A and got $48.69 a week for trying to run a men's dormitory, I also got a graduate assistanceship and worked for the National Forest Service. I had a fancy title. I was the Coronado National Forest Assistant Forest Archaeologist — a very big, impressive title that got me $5 an hour for a maximum of 25 hours per week. The money was definitely helpful and I looked forward to that periodic check.

I did some field work in various parts of the National Forest. When I worked at Franklin Pierce college I also was adjunct faculty and assisted in teaching excavation techniques. I taught a class in forensic anthropology for undergraduate students.

Other hobbies include reading, and I like to play golf. I play a couple times a year. I'm very bad at it but I still enjoy it. In fact, I am so untalented that I often create many humorous memories for the people I play with, but that's okay because I still have a good time. I collect coins. When I was in Arizona I did a lot of hunting. I haven't done so much here because out there were millions of acres of public land to hunt on. In Iowa and a lot of the midwest it is necessary to know a lot of farmers because it is all privately held land. We did big game hunting in Arizona with large caliber rifles. We hunted elk, deer, and javelina.

My wife, Kathy, and I like to go to auctions. We have collected way too much old stuff, which creates more challenges when we're moving. Lots of times we don't buy anything but just enjoy the other auction-goers and the interplay between the auctioneer and the crowd. Sometimes something catches our eye, sometimes we're looking for a bargain.

I really think Osceola has been growing and will continue to grow with continued opportunities for people whether it is in business, recreation or raising a family. Most of the small cities in Iowa of similar size would gladly trade places with Osceola any day of the week. There are so many smaller cities where there aren't a lot of prospects, where the future does not look as bright or the future is cloudy. It says something about the people, I think, who sense they have been blessed with some resources and given opportunities. I believe there are a lot of success stories in Osceola.

One of the things I really admire about Osceola is that people are not afraid to think big or to take a chance — "Let's build this reservoir, let's do this project." This city's ability to do a major infrastructure project and have the support of the community is outstanding. Using boxing terms, Osceola is punching way above its weight class. Most small places don't have the drive or ambition or the faith in themselves to do these things. I see that in abundance here.

Being a city manager requires being an effective communicator and part of that is being able to listen. Although I don't run for election, clearly there is a political element to my job. I have to be able to observe and assess the situation and figure out what is the right or wrong thing to say, hopefully avoiding saying the wrong thing. I think we always have to have an awareness of our environment.

That is pretty much my life. I think I am like most people who view themselves as an average Joe. I am a typical garden-variety American.

Return to main page for Recipes for Living 2009 by Fern Underwood

Last Revised December 1, 2014