Pullquote: “He’s always so freakin’ happy, and it bugs me!”
Rielly’s friend Chris Herbert, who is godmother to his daughter Shannon.
Editor’s note: This is the second in an occasional series of profiles on Westbrook’s political leaders.
City Council President Brendan Rielly is one of the leading Democrats in Westbrook, but there’s more to him than just his political life. His family and friends say he is a good father, a giving friend, and also one of those happy-to-the-point-of-being-annoying people.
“He’s always so freakin’ happy,” said Chris Herbert, who is godmother to Rielly’s daughter Shannon. “And it bugs me!”
Rielly’s family and friends say at parties he’s all about having a good time and enjoying the people in his life, especially the little people. “He’s always entertaining the kids while the other parents talk,” said his wife, Erica. “At pool parties, he always has five kids hanging off his back.”
“I like it when Daddy plays tick-tock with me,” said 5-year-old daughter Maura. Tick-tock consists of Rielly holding Maura upside down by her ankles and swinging her like the pendulum of a clock.
Rielly has written two children’s books, which he has been trying to get published. He’s also written a “tongue-in-cheek guide to parenting,” titled “How to Raise the Perfect Child, Or At Least Lie About It,” which he describes as an attempt at a funny “guide through the Twilight Zone called parenting.”
“There are really only two truths to parenting,” said Rielly. “One is that we have absolutely no idea what we’re doing. The second is that we love our kids. The trick to parenting is letting them know the second while hiding the first.”
For Rielly, a lot of parenting comes down to maintaining a sense of humor. “They’re insane. It’s so much fun to be a parent,” he said. “The kids all have great senses of humor, and that’s something that we really try to enjoy and promote in them. You know, we’re sitting around the dinner table, and any one of them is likely to cut into me or cut into Erica, and we’re likely to cut into them, which is just the best part of it all – just the making fun of each other that you do around the table.”
Even his kids’ friends aren’t spared Rielly’s wit. “My daddy is (really) funny, but you shouldn’t listen to a word he says,” Maura said one day when Rielly was kidding one of her classmates.
Rielly spends time volunteering at his children’s schools on a regular basis. Lately, he has been working at the Congin School to help start a school-wide newspaper as well as newspapers for the third and fourth grade classes, respectively, of Shannon and his son, Morgan. He also does more than his fair share of work at home helping with the housework, shuttling the kids to various appointments and activities, and according to his wife, playing and reading with the kids every chance he gets.
The ‘perfect man’
In the adult world, Erica Rielly describes her husband as thoughtful and caring, and perhaps the “perfect man,” a nickname Rielly’s college friends gave him for a different reason: to make fun of him.
Erica Rielly said she and her husband are “as different as can be,” but yet they complement each other. She and Rielly first started dating when they were 15 years old and have been together through college at separate schools, law school for Rielly at Notre Dame, a law career, three children, and now politics in Westbrook.
“I wish I could bust him, but I can’t. Of our high school friends, he’s the main one who keeps everyone together,” said Kate Hersom, who has known Rielly since he was 10 years old and played on her father’s Dairy Queen little league team. “They have a yearly holiday party, and it’s fun to see who he’s stayed in touch with. It’s a wide berth of people.”
“He certainly needles you on your NFL team when they’re” playing badly, said Jeff Herbert, husband of Chris Herbert and a Minnesota Vikings fan. (Rielly is a fan of the rival Green Bay Packers.) “He always has a big tailgate party to kick off the college football season, usually when Notre Dame is playing because he’s an Irish fan. He appreciates watching the game and having a cold one.”
A very busy man
“Yeah, he used to drink in college. And, yeah, he used to go out and have a good time,” admitted Chris Herbert.
These days Rielly’s schedule leaves little time for that sort of thing. His usual day begins at 5:30 a.m. as he’s getting ready for work, making the kids’ lunches, checking the news, and helping get the kids ready for school. At 7:30 a.m., he’s off to work at the law firm of Jensen, Baird, Gardner, and Henry in Portland where he does commercial and real estate litigation. He tries to get back home by 5:30 p.m. for soccer, basketball, Scouts, dance, or whatever other activity the kids have going.
At some point he tries to get in some exercise – usually a fast walk because his “bad feet” won’t let him run anymore, or a “dork walk” as his wife calls them. After dinner, it’s on to City Council business or working at home for the law firm.
Then, if he’s lucky, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. he has time for whatever personal writing project he’s working on. Finally, it’s off to bed for an average of four hours of sleep each night, which Rielly maintains is all he needs. And all through this, he never wears a watch because he says they’re uncomfortable.
Rielly said he’s always been a busy person and isn’t very much different than he was as a kid. He said his drive to stay busy comes from the move his family made from Fort Wayne, Ind. to Westbrook when he was 8 years old.
“That’s always a difficult transition for a young kid,” he said. “So I had to learn early to be comfortable doing my own thing.”
He said he’s always been very active with personal projects and through volunteer work through various organizations and his church. As a boy, he was an alter server and in the youth ministry at St. Edmund’s. These days, St. Anthony’s parish is “a huge part of (his and his family’s) life.”
Rielly has always been interested in public service, a character trait he says he takes from his parents, Ed and Jeanne, who have been active in Westbrook through volunteer work. Another influence, according to Rielly, was the legacy of President John F. Kennedy and his call to service.
Rielly has always aspired to elected office. His future goal from his high school yearbook, according to Hersom, was to “study politics and become either a senator or a representative.”
Taking over the council
For now, Rielly seems to be focused on the task at hand of running the City Council. “I’ve got a lot of work to do to learn the ropes of being council president and some very big shoes to fill, taking over for Jim Violette,” he said. “I’m focused on that.”
Even though Rielly is running the council in just his third term on the council, other councilors, even those on the other side of the aisle, respect his ability. “I have the utmost confidence in our new president,” said Republican City Councilor John O’Hara. “He comes with many talents, and his dedication far exceeds normal levels for a city councilor.”
“From what I know, he’s a good city councilor,” said Westbrook Chamber of Commerce President Darryl Wright, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for a council seat last fall. “He looks at everything, and doesn’t make decisions lightly.”
One question that has been raised during Rielly’s tenure on the council is the possibility of a conflict of interest coming from the fact the law firm he works for also represents the city. O’Hara said as far as he is concerned, there is no conflict.
O’Hara was a member of the council when the firm was chosen for the city, as was Rielly. City Solicitor Bill Dale is a partner in the municipal department of Jensen, Baird, Gardner and Henry, and Rielly works in the litigation department. When the City Council approved the appointment by Mayor Bruce Chuluda, Rielly abstained from the vote.
“Initially when we hired the law firm, I had concerns,” said Ray Richardson, former president of the Westbrook Republican City Committee. “But the law firm, the mayor, and Rielly satisfied my concerns. I think it has worked out very well for Westbrook.”
Rielly said since he works in a completely seperate department from Dale, there is no conflict. “After the previous city solicitor resigned, Bruce (Chuluda) appointed Bill Dale, a partner of mine here at the law firm as city solicitor,” said Rielly. “When the council confirmed that, I abstained. Bill is in our municipal department. I am not. I’m in our litigation department.”
In September, Rielly was at the center of a controversy when he added $50,000 to a municipal bond the night of a City Council meeting to benefit the Westbrook Food Pantry.
Wright said while the food pantry is certainly a worthy cause, he didn’t think the money should have been added without any advance notice. “I agree that the food pantry needs money, but I didn’t like how it came out,” he said. “After all the deliberations about the bond, I didn’t agree with how it was thrown on at the last minute. I think it could have been done differently.”
Richardson agreed with Wright. “I think sometimes what (Rielly) thinks is a good idea gets in the way of common sense. The food pantry is a good example,” he said. “(However), he’s a very caring and committed person to the community. You can’t help but like the guy even if you disagree with him.”
Rielly said the bond issue was not a last minute thing. “When the bond package came forward, I talked with Jerre (Bryant) before first reading about adding in the food pantry,” said Rielly. “He prepared the necessary language and, on first reading, I moved to add it in. The council then approved it. It wasn’t a last minute addition, as a few people criticized.”
Plans for the future
As for the years ahead, Rielly said he isn’t sure about his future in politics, and he admitted a possible run for the state Legislature might be in the cards, but not just yet.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” he said. “With Rep. Duplessie being term-limited, a lot of people, including some very powerful people, asked me to run for his slot. It’s very flattering and is something, some day, I’d love to do, but right now I couldn’t make it work with my family and work commitments.”
He was also reportedly asked to run for mayor this past election but according to Erica Rielly, he “never considered it. He wanted Jim Violette to be mayor and it also wasn’t the right time because of his work commitments.”
“Anyone would be honored to be mayor,” said Rielly. “But for now I’m focused on doing my job as City Council president.”
As for his future outside of politics, Rielly said he isn’t sure about that either. “For me, the biggest part of my life is being a husband and a dad. Everything else comes second,” he said. “Other than being a husband and a dad, who knows what I’ll be doing 10, 20, or 30 years down the road.”
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