Former City Councilman Kelly Haddad is living a busy life in Chandler with his family: (from left) daughter Brooke, wife Jenny, daughter Mia and son Ethan. Submitted photo

Kelly Haddad was one of Maricopa’s original city council members, selected by the Pinal County Board of Supervisors after the city was incorporated. He then ran for the seat and became one of the first elected council members.

In total he served four and half years before losing the subsequent election, but those years were precedent-setting.

“I was proud of pretty much everything we did,” Haddad says. “We had a lot on our plate. We were under intense development. We were able to kind of come together – a bunch of guys who had never really done anything politically before – and get control of the growth and steer it in the direction that we thought was best for the city.”

He became involved in community service when Edward Farrell asked him to join the incorporation committee. That led to his initial interest in the council.

“I wanted to stay involved and make sure the city wasn’t taken advantage of by the development companies and make sure things grew right. I wanted to do the things necessary to make a community a community.”

After losing his re-election bid in 2008, Haddad and his family remained in Maricopa for a couple years before moving to Ahwatukee. Kelly and wife Jennifer have now been settled in Chandler for the past year.

They have three children: Brooke, 22, Ethan, 11, and Mia, 7.

Haddad maintains his own bookkeeping companies, something he has done for 15 years, and handles the day-to-day accounts for dairies and farms, a total of 12 companies.

Since Ethan was 3, Haddad has coached him in various sports. For the past four years, his son has played club baseball with the Misfits, and Kelly is assistant coach. Haddad is also helping coach Ethan’s football team.

“Between doing books for 12 different companies and coaching, we pretty much run seven days a week,” Haddad says.