Mayoral Campaign 2015: John Gale

John Gale was at Max Bibo’s early, having a pistachio muffin and a coffee. The New York Times was on the table, folded. He put his phone aside, but did answer when one of his daughters called and told her she’d be getting that call returned later.

By the time I reached out to Gale to set up this meeting, multiple individuals had already invited me to meet-and-greets and offered to arrange for an interview.

Why is now the time for you to run?

There are “tremendous opportunities and tremendous challenges” in Hartford.

What experience do you have in managing departments and what is your own management philosophy?

Gale said he has run his own business, managing 4-6 employees at any time. Besides reviewing resumes, this management has involved Gale leading by example, he said.

He is one of the candidates with a background in law. He exists “in an adversarial world as an attorney,” he said, but he tries “to work out a solution” each time and says he has been “reasonably successful with that.”

What experience do you have with working on a large scale budget?

“My experience is paying taxes in the city since 1975.”

What do you expect to accomplish in the first year, if elected?

Every department head will have to reapply for the job, Gale said.

He does not see the problem with City employees being a lack of talent, but he believes they all need to be held to “higher expectations.”

This would involve an improved use of technology.

In that first year, Gale would want to focus on the budget and the grand list. There is a need to grow the tax base, he said, which would include focusing on small business. He would work with the economic development director to be welcoming to businesses. Right now, he said, there are four different departments that might weigh in on business matters; it’s inefficient and there have been issues with communication, Gale said.

How would you address transparency with the media and the general public?

“The door to my office is going to be open,” Gale said.

There is no excuse for lack of communication.

How do you envision bringing economic development to the neighborhoods, like Frog Hollow, Northeast, and South End?

There should be small business development along all the arteries.

The iConnect project was a good idea, he said, but the execution could have been stronger. He would like to see this move beyond Downtown.

There is “a lot of vacant land. We should be building on it,” he said. This means creating housing that will be on the tax rolls.

Gale believes he knows how to take something from concept to execution, dropping the names of various ventures he has been involved in. He founded Mo’s Midtown with partners in 1987 and then sold it in 1989. The Jambalaya on the River cruises were also one of his projects that he founded with partners; those took place throughout the 1990s.

What steps will you take to ensure that the north neighborhoods do not become further geographically isolated by infrastructure like the stadium?

The stadium, he said, is not massive or isolating by design. He said that the street-level design for the Yard Goats’ stadium should be akin to how Camden Yards works with its neighborhood.

It won’t be “like walking next to the XL Center,” he said, which he likened to a “penitentiary” in design.

How would you respond if it is discovered that there were illegal actions involved in the City’s stadium deal, such as finances being drawn from a source not intended to cover such expenses?

Gale said he “won’t speculate” on this type of scenario, but then followed: “the City of Hartford should never behave illegally.”

With his background in law, Gale made the case that he doesn’t “even want the appearance of impropriety,” citing his involvement with the Professional Discipline Digest, a publication of disciplinary action taken against Connecticut Attorneys. He founded that in the 1990′s.

Does anyone in your immediate family receive a City-issued grant? If so, how would you reconcile this with the possible conflict of interest?

His daughters’ business, Hartford Prints!, no longer receives funding from the City he said, as the grant reached the end of its life. He said the business has been successful since and that in this way, iConnect worked as it was intended.

Where do your children attend school?

His children are all grown, but all attended Noah Webster, Quirk, and then Hartford High. Gale graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1969. He showed pride in how long his family has been in Hartford and how many members of the family have attended its public schools.

Currently Mayor Segarra sits on the Board of Education but is a non-voting member. What role would you play with the BOE, if elected?

Education is a high priority, he said, naming the number of sisters and other family members who work in education.

He would remain involved with the Board of Education, either through making appointments or sitting on the BOE. The appointed members would need to be “passionate about education” and have a “degree in practicality.” These would need to be people who are able to “do more with less.”

Gale’s theory is that education improves when the neighborhoods improve. To complete that equation, he believes that economic diversity is what will change the neighborhoods for the better. Each area of the city should reflect the whole range — poor, middle class, and rich — he said.

Beyond this, he said that Hartford itself should be part of the curriculum: “I want people who love their city.”

Children should know where the river is, he said.

How will you work to promote sustainable methods of transportation?

Gale wants to see bike lanes on every street and for the bike share program to launch. For the latter, he said, “all the work has been done,” but a sponsor should be found.

If Hartford’s going to be competitive, it must move to a new transportation model that relies less on single-occupant vehicle use.

The new busway, he said, has potential. The New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail is something else the City should be completely behind, along with creating a rail connection to Bradley Airport.

Hartford’s dike system was deemed unacceptable in 2014, putting federal insurability at risk. What is your plan for meeting the Army Corps of Engineers’ standards for a passable dike and flood control system?

“You should never be asleep at the switch,” he said.

Gale wondered why this issue had not been raised at every single meeting during this administration. He would hire department heads who are “not afraid to tell me ‘no’,” he said.

“I don’t want a flood control guy who doesn’t pipe up.”

How will you improve the cultural climate of City Hall to reduce the dead weight while attracting and retaining the best and brightest?

There have been problems with leadership, he said. Between “mismanagement” and a “lack of urgency,” what we have seen in this administration has been the “mayor always dealing with yesterday’s problem and trying to catch up.”

Historical Preservation: How would you change Hartford’s trend of demolition by neglect?

Gale unloaded the nostalgia again, this time for the many buildings he had seen demolished over several decades. Historical buildings should not be “torn down,” he said.

There are interventions that could happen, like helping the owner keep and repair a building. Much of what he described could be done is already what LSNI and the Hartford Preservation Alliance are able to do, but for one reason or another, have been struggling to do.

Not asked, but…

Gale was passionate about locally brewed beers being sold in Hartford’s restaurants and bars. He noted that there are no Connecticut beverages offered in places like the XL Center. As mayor, this is something he would attempt to change.