Portola Bridge Dedication Honors Former Councilman

State, county and local officials Friday dedicated the Portola Bridge in Palm Desert in honor of a long-time councilman who died in 2010 after a battle with cancer.

Richard "Dick" Kelly was known as a champion of public transportation improvements during his 28 years as a council member.

Kelly's widow, Mary Helen, and his daughter, Kathleen, accepted several plaques and certificates from state Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert, Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit and the office of Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs.

"Dad loved to quote Jimmy Doolittle, who in his autobiography wrote, 'How could I have had it so good?" Kathleen Kelly said. "I know how he had it so good ... He derrived such ceaseless joy from envisioning possibilities for other people.''

She said she hoped that users of the bridge remembered her father, but also "use it as an inspiration ... to envision possibilites for other people ... and to do what we can to help those possibilities come to pass.''

Following a 20-minute ceremony, Kathleen and her mother, along with the Palm Desert City Council, unveiled a plaque honoring Dick Kelly in the middle of the bridge.

Kelly represented Palm Desert on the Riverside County Transportation Commission, a panel of local elected officials who coordinate and fund transportation projects in the county.

The Portola Bridge, which was completed in 2008, came about as a result of his vision, according to Palm Desert Mayor Jean Benson.

Kelly was a pilot with the U.S. Army Corps during Word War II.