Kathleen Cronin Bishop has followed in her father’s footsteps by recently winning the District One Councillor seat. Her election demonstrates that Chelsea’s traditional character persists in some form, at least sufficiently to elect a young woman whose family has deep roots in the community. The position Bishop assumes will likely prove more manageable than the one her father held during earlier, more turbulent times when local politics resembled a wild west rodeo. Bob Bishop, Chelsea’s city clerk, served during an era of considerable political upheaval but managed to avoid any corruption charges. An honest man from a respectable family who kept to himself, he devoted his life to the city. The saying goes that apples don’t fall far from trees—a principle that applies well to Bob and Ann’s daughter, Kathleen, the city councilor-elect.
One cannot help but reflect on how quickly time moves. I remember when Barry Berman, Chief Operating Officer of the Chelsea Jewish Foundation, which operates the Leonard Florence Center for Living on Admiral’s Hill, was beginning his career. The business landscape of the late 1970’s bore little resemblance to today’s environment. Though he is very much his own man now, that was not always true at the start of what has become a long and distinguished tenure managing institutions that serve the elderly. A Chelsea native who built his life here, Berman has undergone a remarkable transformation. In those early days at the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home, old-time institutional leaders directed his work daily, running management as though it were a political campaign. Berman persevered through this period, eventually taking control of operations and later overseeing the expanded Admiral’s Hill facility. Along the way, he developed a strong friendship and working relationship with the legendary Lenny Florence. With Lenny’s support, Berman gained the confidence to accomplish tremendous good. He remains the humble, quiet, unassuming man he was in his youth, yet he clearly knows his work. It was gratifying to see him receive his award at the recent Chelsea Awards night at city hall. He earned it.
Those of us who have known the Maronskis and held them in high regard were particularly pleased by Richie’s election to the city council. Growing up, one would never have identified Richie as a future politician. Instead, you would have seen a talented athlete and a good kid, with brothers who were equally accomplished athletes and equally good people. I come from the Stutch era, as one of his brothers is well known. Richie brings to city hall what I call the Chelsea essence. He remains thoroughly Chelsea after all these years. He is a good man, a decent human being, and we wish him only the best.
Marilyn Vega-Torres has won reelection to the District 6 city councilor seat. In the past two elections, she has faced challenges from local candidate Lorenzo Recupero. In this year’s race, Recupero performed better than he did two years ago, but still lost by 17 votes. What deserves recognition is the effort required to identify voters and mobilize them to achieve victory against a competitive opponent like Recupero. Vega-Torres has demonstrated her capacity for the work necessary to win. Though her margin was narrower this time, she still brought home the bacon. Seventeen votes may not constitute a landslide, but they proved decisive in this contest.
Irene Grzybinska made her mark as a younger woman in the formerly all-male world of Chelsea banking from the 1960’s into the 1990’s, and then spent nearly the remainder of her life as president of the Chelsea Cooperative Bank on Broadway. She was quiet. She was unassuming. She possessed banking expertise and knew precisely how to operate the bank profitably. Her death two weeks ago stirred recollections of Ms. Grzybinska working alongside the late John Tierney, president and owner of the former Broadway National Bank, and the lawyers and friends who sought her out for their banking needs. She was one of a kind in the annals of major banking in this city’s history. She invested more than 30 years at the Chelsea Provident—a significant achievement in a world upended by the recent recession.