The Somerville voters overwhelmingly showed approval of Dorothy Kelly Gay's first-term performance when they elected her to a second term yesterday.She beat competitor William Baro by an estimated 28 points, according to an unofficial count.
Kelly Gay's goals for the term include improving the Assembly Square shopping center, increasing the amount of "affordable housing," and improving relations with Tufts.
The unofficial results, as reported on the community cable access channel, placed the mayor with a 64 percent of the total 10,378 votes cast.
Kelly Gay spent $92,000 on her campaign, as opposed to the $5,000 Baro spent. Kelly Gay has received many endorsements from local unions and community groups, according to the Somerville Journal. But she was most pleased with the support she's received from her constituents.
"I'm the most proud of the personal endorsements I've received from the voters," she told the Journal. "Just the other day I was standing on the street and an immigrant came up to me who recently became eligible to vote. She told me she was very happy to be able to vote for me because she felt I am doing a great and have always been inclusive."
Kelly Gay was elected mayor in 1999 in a hotly contested special election to replace former Mayor Michael Capuano, who left Somerville for Washington DC. The mayor's two years in office were marked by various challenges, ranging from garnering funding for new schools, to improving a public safety building and fixing troubles with the town's police department.
She also increased the amount of affordable housing units available in the community by forging partnerships with local organizations. This created over 100 new housing units, some of which opened within the past two months, that provide affordable and assisted living for handicapped citizens.
However, in his campaign, Baro criticized the way that Kelley Gay ran the city. He said the economy is declining, and he faulted Kelly Gay for employing people from outside the city in city offices.
