Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • October 1, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 17 tight — that a third-party candidate could play spoiler, but Griebel cer- tainly doesn't want to hear about it. He said he's in it to win it, even though he is a long-shot candidate. Positioning himself as an alternative to Democrat Ned Lamont and Republi- can Bob Stefanowski, he said his inde- pendent status means he's unbeholden to any political party — a practical, business-friendly voice who is will- ing to talk about where he stands on important issues. "No other candidate has a better grasp of the issues," a pinned tweet atop Griebel's campaign Twitter page read in mid-September. "No Politics. No Parties. Just Solutions." The area business community knows him well, but statewide he lacks name recognition, which could prove to be one of his biggest hurdles. He garnered just 4 percent support in a Quinnipiac Poll conducted in August, right before he collected enough voter signatures to secure a spot on the November ballot. He also doesn't have fundraising sup- port from one of the two major politi- cal parties, which will make it harder for him to get his message across to voters. Instead, his campaign has been very active on a much lower-cost me- dium — social media. He's also fought to get on stage for debates and released his first TV ad Sept. 25. Here's where Griebel said he stands on some other major issues: Closing the deficit: There's a $4 billion-plus deficit projected for the next two fiscal years. No candidate has shared a comprehensive plan to deal with it. Griebel is no different, but he did say tax increases would be a last resort. Griebel said he wants to focus on cutting costs by pursuing regionaliza- tion of municipal services; privatizing or semi-privatizing state functions and agencies including the Department of Motor Vehicles and DECD; selling state-owned buildings; and potentially pursuing commercial hemp growing. It's likely he would use the state's rainy day fund to start to close the gap. He also suggested in a recent debate temporarily sus- pending contribu- tions to state em- ployee pensions with the hope of developing a plan that will balance the budget long term. Tolls: Griebel wants to test electronic tolling on I-91's and I-84's HOV lanes. A pilot program would allow the state to show residents and businesses that "the world's not coming to an end," he said, and also test out conges- tion pricing, in which tolls are higher during peak traffic hours. Minimum wage: Griebel said he's reluctant to mandate another increase in the state's minimum wage, which stands at $10.10 per hour, because it may hurt his 200,000 jobs initiative. Unions: Griebel wants to convince state worker unions to voluntarily return to the bargaining table to rework their latest deal, which was negotiated by Malloy and expires in 2027, with layoff protections in place until 2021. "We need to make some changes go- ing forward, both in the benefit pack- ages and things like work rules that would allow us to privatize certain services," he said. Griebel said he's almost cer- tain to face op- position and that any strong-arm tactics could have negative legal ramifications for the state. Hartford debt bailout: Hartford flirted with bank- ruptcy last year before the legis- lature swooped in with a long-term debt bailout. Griebel called the deal "horrible" and "horrific." He said it failed to address the city's ex- orbitant commercial mill rate (74.29), which is hampering growth. So would he fight to halt the state's debt payments to the city in some way? "I'd have to look at it," he said. Griebel is worried other cities in fiscal distress will be looking for similar deals from the state. Instead, as governor he said he would work with local officials to seek "grand bargains" in those cities. That would include capping budget growth, privatizing services, selling off public office buildings, increasing resi- dential tax rates, convincing big prop- erty owners to agree to keep their tax burden level for a period of years — even if the mill rate decreases — and coaxing tax- exempt property owners to make voluntary proper- ty tax payments. Many of those things have been tried before with little success, but Griebel insists the conversation would change in Hartford if the commercial mill rate was coming down. "Is it going to be hard? It's going to be hard as hell," he said. XL Center: The aging venue needs millions of dollars for a major renova- tion or rebuild, but Griebel said he would not support investing state money in the facility without strong support by private investors and stakeholders, as well as commitments from UConn's sports teams. "To what end are you going to build a new venue? For what purpose?" he said he would ask a group of stakeholders, acknowledging there are many other entertainment venues now competing for business in the region and state. Health care: Under Malloy, Connecti- cut has embraced the Affordable Care Act and pushed back against President Don- ald Trump's efforts to offer skimpier cov- erage, such as short-term health plans, that would skirt some of the ACA's rules. Does Griebel support that approach? He said he would convene a group of industry stakeholders, like the Connecti- cut Health Council, to take a broader look at how health care works in the state. Connecticut has lots of healthcare brainpower, and should be a leader in cost containment and quality, he said. Millstone: The nuclear plant re- cently bid for a long-term, state-sanc- tioned contract to sell its carbon-free power to utilities here. The potential contract has been opposed by environ- mental groups and others. "Millstone, to me, is a big part of the future of the state, both in terms of an energy source and as a major employer and taxpayer," Griebel said. Natural gas and renewable energy: Connecticut continues to subsidize the expansion of natural gas heating, and officials have also pushed unsuccess- fully for major expansions of pipeline capacity. Griebel said natural gas burns cleaner than oil, and wonders what sort of timeline is possible to transition in a bigger way to renewables. "How much do you have to invest in the short term to provide natural gas resources while you're waiting for the investments in renewables to kick in, is a question," he said. "I think trying to bet the ranch on natural gas by itself is not the right way to go." Giving Malloy credit: Griebel gives the outgoing governor "a lot of credit" for his "Second Chance Society" ini- tiative, which aims to provide skills training to prisoners and a better chance at finding a job when they get out. He also thinks Malloy has been on target in pushing for more money for roads and bridges. "He's been a strong advocate, not necessarily an effective advocate, but a strong advocate for transportation funding," Griebel said. That Malloy has been unable to gen- erate as much revenue for transporta- tion as he would have liked is as much the fault of the Republicans as it is of the governor, Griebel said. R. Nelson "Oz" Griebel Party: Unaffiliated Most recent job: CEO, MetroHartford Alliance Other past significant jobs: CEO, BankBoston Connecticut Age: 69 Town of residence: Hartford College education: Bachelor's degree, Dartmouth University; juris doctorate, Suffolk University Running mate: Monte Frank "No other candidate has a better grasp of the issues," a pinned tweet atop Griebel's campaign Twitter page read in mid-September. "No Politics. No Parties. Just Solutions." Oz Griebel in downtown Hartford. He called the city's recent debt bailout "horrible" and said he'd seek new ways to stabilize the state's major urban centers.

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