Remembering Brigid Kelly

As I’m sure you’ve heard, Hamilton County Auditor Brigid Kelly announced her resignation on March 21st and entered hospice care. She passed away on March 26th, 2024. Two years ago, she developed esophageal cancer and she initially underwent radiation treatment. Eventually, she was told the cancer was terminal, but she still kept working for the residents of Hamilton County up until she entered hospice.

The first time I ever met Brigid was in February of 2018, but I had been following her political career at the Ohio State House for some time. I reached out to her for some advice on my impending suicide mission when I ran against Bill Seitz for State Representative. She was immediately responsive and friendly, which is something I always appreciated about her. We met on a Saturday at a random coffee shop somewhere in Norwood. A mostly foreign place to me, but I was willing to venture east in hopes of getting valuable political advice from one of the best State Representatives in Ohio. Heading into the meeting, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I spent a lot of my time (and often still do) shit-talking politicians on Twitter. Some of the politicians I frequently criticized were big players in the Cincinnati political arena and were allies of hers. I’m speaking of individuals like John Cranley and Dusty Rhodes. Regardless, she either didn’t care or didn’t know about my brash political opinions of people who she often traded political endorsements with.

We talked about how she was a labor organizer for the UFCW prior to politics and she shared fundraising and campaign tips. She was quite pleasant and it was as if I was speaking to someone who I’d known my entire life. I didn’t know it at the time, but Brigid didn’t get involved too much with the establishment vs progressive political infightings that often occur within the Hamilton County Democratic Party. She was so skilled politically that she was able to work with both corporate Democrats as well as the progressive Democrats. She never once complained about my critiques of Cranley or Dusty. She never attempted to force me to be someone who I am not, something that many others at HCDP attempted to do. The only ‘tough’ conversation we’d ever had was when she told me to change my Twitter handle. Apparently Claydog_15 wasn’t an ideal Twitter name for an aspiring state house candidate. I ignored her advice initially and I embraced the “Claydog” persona. The Republicans at the State House made fun of me for it, but that just made me want to keep it even more. I knew I was going to lose the race, so I made a pledge to be my authentic self on the campaign trail. I had always gone by Claydog_15 on Twitter, and Bill Seitz wasn’t going to force me to change my name now. A few years after my electoral defeat in 2018, I eventually changed my Twitter handle to Clayton_Adams because I got tired of people poking fun at me for it. It felt like I had outgrown the nickname and ultimately Brigid was right and I was wrong.

There would be plenty of other get-togethers and conversations after our initial meeting in Norwood. Her and I worked together to secure a spot for all HCDP candidates running in the 2018 cycle to march in the Pride Parade. I’d often see her at fundraisers and other political events and she’d always be kind and personable. She’d fill me in on the drama at the State House and we’d occasionally text each other here and there over the years. She really was one of the best elected officials in Hamilton County because she had a way of bringing people together. She was also authentic and didn’t try to be something she wasn’t. It’s a major loss for Hamilton County and although I am not much of a praying man, her family is in my thoughts.

Ultimately, one must ask how and why does a 40-year-old woman develop esophageal cancer? She wasn’t a smoker and she wasn’t predisposed to it. This is entirely speculative, but the answer may lie in the fact she lived in Norwood for the vast majority of her life. I stumbled upon some interesting Facebook posts that suggested cancer had been a problem for many Norwood residents recently. The two Facebook posts allude to a chemical explosion from an industrial factory in 1990 that contaminated the air and even left certain homes in Norwood uninhabitable.  Brigid would’ve been six at the time of that explosion. After doing some research, ProPublica put out a detailed map of cancer-causing industrial air pollution in the United States. If you look at the Cincinnati area on the map, Norwood is considered a hotspot for cancer causing industrial air pollution. According to ProPublica, people that live in Norwood are 1.2 times more likely to develop cancer in their lifetime. If you look at the history of Norwood, it was known for having a plethora of industrial factories and its residents were considered working-class. Due to deindustrialization, there are fewer factories in Norwood today. However, ProPublica points out that the Shepherd Chemical Co as a major polluter who emits cobalt, chromium and nickel compounds into Norwood’s air. Cast-Fab Technologies Inc, which appears to have shuttered its Norwood location, previously emitted benzene, nickel and chromium pollutants into the air. Is it a coincidence? Maybe, but if I was a betting man, I’d say these air pollutants plus the chemical explosion in 1990 could have very likely contributed to Brigid’s cancer. Having been radicalized by the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, corporations polluting the environment and causing harm to people is something I’ve always been vehemently against and cognizant of. My father grew up in Delbarton, West Virginia; a small town in southern West Virginia where an egregious lack of regulation let coal companies pollute the soil and waterways for decades.

Regardless, we lost a good one with the death of Brigid Kelly. I appreciate everything she had done for the citizens of Ohio and Hamilton County over her career. She was the epitome of a public servant, something quite rare in politics. In a political environment filled with self-promoters, ladder climbers, grifters and some of the worst people you’d ever meet, she stood out from the crowd as a genuinely good person who advocated the best interest of the citizens. You’ll be missed, Brigid.