Mayor Shelley Brindle  

I am so honored and privileged to be your Mayor. My husband Kip and I have lived here for 26 years and raised our three kids here. And yet, I have never been more excited about this town and the promising future we have the opportunity to create together. As Mayor, I want to ensure that our community is one where everyone can afford to stay, and a vibrant and safe place where our children will want to return and raise their own families.

Since being elected, I set out to achieve four key priorities:

Strong fiscal oversight: Despite the economic challenges brought upon us by the pandemic, we delivered the first budget decrease in eight years by making strategic cuts to manage the tax rate. Our three-year average municipal tax increase since I took office stands at.8%, and this year alone equates to an additional $53 on the average assessed household. By leveraging grants and improving automation to enhance operating efficiencies, my administration continues to focus on identifying the best fiscal path forward while delivering services to our residents.

Charting a vision for our future: Through the completed and adopted Master Plan Reexamination, Strategic Parks Plan, and Bike and Pedestrian Plan, the foundation was laid to reimagine Westfield's future through the lens of extensive feedback by residents, business owners, and downtown property owners. The recent designation for redevelopment of the Lord and Taylor properties, our eight municipal parking lots, and the Rialto building - comprising just over 20 acres within our downtown - represents an opportunity to pursue a long overdue and holistic focus on what is possible for a post-pandemic Downtown Westfield. I remain committed to using the strategic levers available to us, like tax abatement incentives and redevelopment laws, to attract investment, diversify and expand our tax base, and ensure our long-term prosperity.

Champion quality of life issues that impact all residents: In 2020, we passed legislation to preserve our treasured historic homes by implementing common sense review processes before another historic property falls victim to becoming a tear down. In addition, I continue to press ahead in the pursuit of the one-seat ride as the founding co-chair of the Raritan Valley Line Mayors' Alliance, and am proud to have a Police Department that demonstrably prioritizes community policing every day. Our Green Team's extensive efforts remain focused on engaging the community to help make Westfield more sustainable, and we've also realized the launch of the Westfield Public Arts Commission that generated funding for a new mural and the Town's first public art exhibit.

Increase resident engagement by improving transparency and communication to better reflect the open, inclusive, innovative and collaborative spirit of our community: Over the last three years, we have vastly improved and simplified Town communication so that residents have broad access to information and updates through a number of channels - which proved more valuable than ever before in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic. We also established a Westfield 300 Steering Committee to commemorate the Town's 300th anniversary in 2020, and continued to expand the widely popular and volunteer-driven AddamsFest celebration. Through a continued focus on inclusion, Westfield now has rainbow crosswalks painted in honor of Pride, as well as a Mental Health Council, Human Relations Advisory Commission, Access and Inclusivity Council, and Lifelong Westfield Committee, to ensure ongoing attention on issues that matter to us all.

It is the highly engaged, vastly talented, and deeply committed residents that make Westfield such a special place, and one that we are all proud to call home. Your issues are my issues, and I'll always be a tireless advocate on your behalf. I'm grateful every day for the opportunity to do so.

With gratitude,

About Mayor Brindle

Shelley Brindle is the Mayor of Westfield, NJ, elected in November 2017 as the first female Mayor in Westfield's history.

Career

Prior to being elected, Shelley had served as HBO's Executive Vice President, Domestic Network Distribution and Marketing where she was responsible for the revenue, marketing, and distribution strategy of HBO's $4.4 billion domestic subscription business. Having successfully led HBO's digital transformation, Shelley retired in March of 2016 to pursue public service. She aspired to use her experience as the first woman in HBO's C-suite to serve as a mentor to emerging female leaders and entrepreneurs, as well as apply her leadership and operating skills to serve as Mayor of her hometown.

Community Service

In addition to serving as Mayor, Shelley serves on the Board of Philo, a streaming TV tech company in San Francisco, serves as a Global Ambassador for Vital Voices, is a founding member of Plum Alley Investments, is an active member of several women's leadership organizations, and has been a regular participant at Fortune's annual Most Powerful Women Summit.

Education & Family

Shelley holds a Bachelor's of Arts Degree in Rhetoric and Communications Studies/History from the University of Virginia. She lives in Westfield, New Jersey with her husband Kip, their three children Grace (21), a senior a Carleton College; Nora (18) a sophomore at The Ohio State University; and Nick, (15) a 10th grader at Westfield High School, as well as their two dogs and any number of foster dogs waiting for a good home.