Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay: Somerville's Lucky Charm

Growing up in Ireland, Dorothy Kelly Gay watched her father contribute to his town through his career of nursing and his love of politics.

After a chance move to Somerville thirty years ago, Gay started combining these two interests in an effort to contribute to her new hometown.

That eventually led to a life in public office. Now the mayor of Somerville, Gay was elected on May 11 in a special election to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Michael A. Capuano (D--Somerville) when he left for Washington.

She will be running unopposed next month for a full term.

In a recent interview with The Crimson, Gay outlined her priorities as mayor, her desire to see Somerville form closer bonds with Harvard, and her path from the British Isles to Somerville City Hall.

Activism in Her Blood

Gay was born in Ireland in 1943. Her father, a grass-roots politician, nurse and union activist, imbued her with a civic sense and a desire to be a nurse.

This desire led Gay to leave Ireland in 1961; she moved to England to pursue a nursing career.

Gay met her husband, Bertram Gay, while in England. The couple moved to Somerville in 1968 because their child needed surgery that was only offered at Boston Children's Hospital.

When they found that everybody in Somerville "sort of wanted to help," Gay said they decided to stay.

"We'd never experienced that kind of friendliness," she says.

Gay was also drawn by what seemed the high level of opportunity available in the US.

"We saw the opportunities here that our children could have and that we could have," Gay said.

Those opportunities came quickly, when Gay and her husband found work. She became a nurse at Somerville's Heritage Hospital and he a machinist at a Cambridge company.

Politics on the Side

Gay worked full time as a nurse until this year, when she retired from her night shift as a nurse administrator at the Hebrew Center, her workplace for the last 17 years.

But she didn't just follow her father's path toward nursing. She also followed his example in the civic arena, becoming active in Somerville life. She joined the PTA and volunteered for various political campaigns and community associations.

Her efforts did not go unnoticed. When Thomas Taylor was elected to the Somerville Board of Aldermen in the fall of 1986, he appointed Gay to fill the School Committee seat he had left open. The Board of Aldermen unanimously approved this appointment.

Ten months later, when the seat was up for election, Gay ran unopposed.

Gay was the first nurse and the first immigrant to serve on the school committee. But her entry into elected office was hardly expected.

"I was working full time as a nurse, and my son had just graduated from high school," Gay said. "I never intended to run; it was like I had my arm twisted."

But Gay soon took to her new position, and chose to serve three full terms.

"I found that I had a voice," she said.

In 1992, Gay decided that she wanted to move on from the School Committee, and sought election to the Governor's Council.

Gay's campaign platform was raising awareness of domestic violence and invigorating the council's role in judicial nominations.

Her campaign wasn't easy, though. Gay said the other candidates had "deeper pockets" than she did, and they had larger support networks in the district. Gay was also the only woman out of seven candidates.

Despite these challenges, Gay won, and took office in January of 1993.

She was only the third female member of the committee in its three-century history.

One of her highest-profile issues while on the council was commuting the life sentences of two members of the Framingham Eight, a group of women who had been found guilty of murdering their abusive husbands.

"I educated my colleagues about battered women's syndrome," Gay said.

Gay also opened Governor's Council meetings to the public--the council is the only governmental body exempted from Massachusetts's open public meeting law.

"[I] wouldn't let the meetings be closed," Gay said.

Her influence was seen in the increase in female judges, too--by the time she left the council in 1999, almost half the judges in the superior court were women, according to Gay.

By the time she left, the council itself had also achieved gender parity, with four male and four female members.

An Eye to the Future

After an unsuccessful run for Lieutenant Governor last year, Gay decided that her political future should be where her political past was--in Somerville.

So she decided to seek Capuano's vacated seat in last May's special election.

Many pundits thought that Gay's lack of recent political activity within Somerville would put her at a disadvantage to Alderman John Buonomo, but Gay believed in her chances.

"I wouldn't have sacrificed what I did if ...I couldn't win," Gay said.

Gay said she knew her chances were strong because her campaign "had done the polls." She also gave her campaign team credit for the victory, calling it a "well-oiled machine."

"Our team was smarter. We had the know-how," Gay said. "None of [the other candidates] outworked me."

Gay edged by Buonomo, with 6878 votes to Buonomo's 6473.

Mayor Gay

Now settled into office, Gay is counting community development and improved public safety among the goals of her administration.

Redevelopment of Somerville has been proceeding at a rapid pace for the last few years, and though it is bringing a new vitality to the city, Gay worries Somerville will lose its working-class feel.

Gay also said that a recent grant from Groundwork USA would help reinvigorate the city.

But Gay also acknowledged the city must keep an eye on gentrification and irresponsible development.

"It is the challenge of my administration to keep the heart and soul of this city together," Gay said.

But Gay said gentrification poses unique problems in Somerville, which is among the most densely populated cities in New England.

Affordable housing is needed to retain long-term residents, but space issues are making this a difficult task, she said.

"[We] try to create affordable housing wherever we can," Gay said. "Lack of space always gives us problems."

Gay also said that managing growth in East Somerville is a challenge. She pointed to the recent debate over whether IKEA, a furniture store chain, should be allowed to construct a 'big box' type store near the Mystic riverfront as an example of the problem the city faces. The Mystic Task Force, a group advocating pedestrian-minded redevelopment, disapproves of the new construction.

"People wanted that water protected, preserved, accessible," Gay said.

Gay said that although she understands the need to preserve Somerville's urban environment, she is also faced with the city's need for more tax revenue.

She added that negotiations among the Task Force, the city and developers might lead to an acceptable solution.

"We need to compromise a little here. We can't have everything, all of us," Gay said.

Somerville's long history can be vexing, too, as in the case of its aging sewer system, which hasn't been rebuilt for 100 years.

"Parts of Ward 2 still have wooden sewers," Gay said.

But any improvements would require federal funding, because the city does not have a stabilization fund for dealing with such needs, Gay said.

In the area of public safety, Gay said that community policing has been a success and counts it as a factor in falling crime rates.

"I stand behind it and continue to fund it," Gay said. "If we had spare dollars that's where I'd put it."

As for Harvard, Gay said that she hopes the University and Somerville can forge a closer relationship during her term than they have had in the past.

"We're trying to formulate a relationship with Harvard," Gay said. "The faculty live in this city and [their children] go to school in this city."

For Harvard's part, Gay is looking to the University to contribute more resources to Somerville.

"They utilize us, but they don't always remember us, " Gay said.

But she stopped short of putting all the blame on Harvard for the lack of a closer relationship. "We haven't always asked," Gay said.

Gay said that although Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine failed to invite her to a recent forum concerning the relationship between Harvard and the Boston community, she knows Rudenstine and hopes to work with him during her time as mayor.

"We have a healthy respect for each other," she said. Gay said she plans to call Rudenstine "and see what we can do to foster a relationship."

But Gay said that her main goal as mayor is to build on Somerville's past success.

"Overall, we have a very vibrant city and a lot of committed citizens who want the best for the city," Gay said.

"I want Somerville to be better."