Gilroy
– Today, Robert Connelly will leave City Hall and head home from
work, just as he has for the past 30 years. But this time, when he
turns off the lights, it will be for good.
He’ll return, of course, but only to fill moving boxes with old
files and office supplies. The family photos that adorned his desk
will be placed gently atop packing peanuts, and Connelly, 59, will
begin a new life.
Gilroy – Today, Robert Connelly will leave City Hall and head home from work, just as he has for the past 30 years. But this time, when he turns off the lights, it will be for good.
He’ll return, of course, but only to fill moving boxes with old files and office supplies. The family photos that adorned his desk will be placed gently atop packing peanuts, and Connelly, 59, will begin a new life.
“There comes a point when you just know it’s time to retire,” Connelly said. “It’s the right time for me now.”
Connelly’s career began with a graduate degree in recreation administration from San Jose State University. After working for two years as a student activities counselor at Colorado State University, Connelly headed back to Palo Alto to be near his family who lived in Los Altos.
Although Connelly originally thought his career would be in elementary physical education, his plans shifted course when he realized how much he enjoyed interacting with a wide range of people, spanning pre-schoolers to seniors. When a college mentor advised Connelly of a full-time job opening in Gilroy as parks and recreation supervisor, he eagerly pursued and won the job.
After serving in that capacity from 1976 to 1985, Connelly again advanced to become department superintendent for two years, eventually replacing Bill Ayre who left to work for Michael Bonfante, who started Bonfante Gardens.
Connelly’s department endured big changes in July 1995 when City Administrator Jay Baksa executed an extensive overhaul of the city’s service organization. Connelly’s department, renamed the community services department, expanded considerably and took on new responsibilities.
“It took a couple of years to see how all that was supposed to fit together and work,” Connelly said. “But eventually it did, and it was more than worth all the efforts.”
Gilroy’s momentous growth, both recently and over the past few decades, has placed greater demands on city staff, Connelly said. But meeting those expectations reaps positive results for both city staff and Gilroyans, and Connelly said he’d like to see the city continue to grow as a family-oriented community.
“As a city, (growth) has led us to raise the bar to provide more people with more services. To me, the measurement of services a city provides its residents is a measurement of how much people want to live there. There are other factors involved, of course – education and affordable housing, for example – but city services make a big difference.”
One of Connelly’s favorite aspects of the past 30 years has been helping nurture ideas from conception to reality, such as the recently approved plans to build Carriage Hills, Sunrise and Los Arroyos parks.
“It’s amazing to see things happen that you never thought could exist,” he said.
What’s in store for Connelly’s future is what many would say retirement should be: travel, relaxation, rounds of golf and volunteer work. Connelly also plans to spend more time with wife Kathy, who works with the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, and their two sons, who live in Illinois.
The city began recruitment for Connelly’s replacement several months ago and received a large response. But no one quite fit the bill, so the search has been placed on hold until the new year. In the meantime, the city’s Administrative Services Director Mike Dorn will handle Connelly’s responsibilities.
Tina Kekaha, the department’s administrative secretary, said she will greatly miss Connelly’s leadership, focus and sense of humor.
“I couldn’t have asked for someone more supportive and fun to be around,” she said.
