Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com June 1, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 3 Attorney Gale pushes local, small business expansion By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com J ohn Q. Gale, 63, an attorney, landlord, entrepreneur, volunteer, and former electrical engineer, is looking for his next career change. A married father of four, with his fourth grandchild on the way, Gale has set his sights on the city's top office, currently held by fellow attorney and Democrat Pedro E. Segarra, a man Gale describes as a friend, but someone who he said has not managed the city's affairs well. Gale was born in Hartford and has lived here most of his life. Fresh out of the University of Pennsylva- nia in 1973, where he marched in demonstra- tions against Richard Nixon's invasion of Cambodia, Gale worked two years at Fair- field conglomerate General Electric as an electrical engineer. But his focus soon turned to the law after being inspired by the Water- gate hearings. "Very quickly I realized that being an engi- neer was not really my calling in life," Gale said in an interview in his Hartford office above Peppercorn's Grill on Main Street. "I was much more of a people person." He attended UConn School of Law and has been at his law firm since 1977. He also owns several office-retail and office-apartment prop- erties in the city. Along with partners, he founded and eventually sold Mo's Midtown diner and The Alley duckpin bowling alley in the late 1980s, and founded a Connecticut River entertain- ment cruise venture, Jambalaya on the River, which operated in the late 1990s and held a revival cruise in 2012. He is on the executive board of the West End Civic Association, a member of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee, and involved with several area nonprofits and charitable groups. How would you assess Hartford's current economy? What are your top two economic development initiatives to improve the city? It's unfortunate that United Technolo- gies [is leaving] Hartford. It's fortunate that they're still located across the river. We're also fortunate we have three major insur- ance companies located right within the city. We certainly have a very good economic foundation. But while UTC and the insurance compa- nies represent great economic drivers for our entire region, they're not a tremendous job creator for citizens in Hartford. We have some very difficult unemployment problems. I want to take a look at iConnect [which sub- sidizes small business leases of vacant down- town storefronts] and see if we can expand that program to generate small businesses in our corridors. Move it down Albany Avenue, move it up North Main Street, move it up Wethersfield Avenue. In Hartford's case, the program [in which Gale's daughters' company Hartford Prints! is one of two remaining beneficiaries] got off the ground with a lot of fits and starts. There's no reason why this can't be done well. I want to have local-hire requirements in our contracts. I'm somewhat mystified as to why many of the contracts the Metropolitan District Commission has put out are going to non-Connecticut contractors. In my neighbor- hood, it's been going on for three years with contractors from Ludlow, Mass. What can be done to reduce the 74.29 mill property tax rate that businesses must pay? To get the mill rate down, we've got to bring expenses down and bring taxable income up. I say we advance on all fronts. On the expense side, our government has to be more efficient. I've already announced that the first act I'd take as mayor is to require all department heads to reapply for their jobs. On the revenue side, we have to put new properties on the tax rolls. We have to have improved relations between city hall and its state delegation so we can push for better PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes] reimbursement. We have to improve the value of our neigh- borhoods so the value of all of our properties goes up. I want to do anti-blight programs, more vigorous street sweeping, and I'm pro- posing we triple the number of trees we're planting every year to 3,000. A 10 to 20 percent increase in value in some of these neighbor- hoods shouldn't be hard. With multiple transportation projects in various stages of completion, what is your long-term plan for how people will move to, from, and around Hartford? I-84, I'd love to see it buried. I don't know if that's economically feasible. I'd love to see it buried and potentially used as a bikeway into Hartford from the west. I want to make sure that the rail from New Haven to Hartford to Springfield takes place. We need it. I'd like to see a rail connection to [Bradley International Airport]. CTfastrak, I think it is going to work. I would be in favor of the governor subsidizing ridership for a year, with no fares. I would like to see a rail shuttle from the Univer- sity of Hartford to downtown. The Dash shuttle is a good idea. It probably needs to be expanded into two lines so we get more coverage down- town. We need bike lanes in as many places as possible and a bike-sharing program. Assess the work of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) so far, and GREEN SOLUTIONS…ONE SOURCE Only one company can build, power, protect, and maintain the critical systems in virtually every type of facility. Our clients trust us to provide sustainable, more productive, greener facilities. We are experts in: Energy Systems & Incentives Building Automation Technologies Sustainable Design & Operation 860.871.1111 Toll Free: 800.741.6367 nemsi.com License #'s: E1-104939 • S1-302974 • P1-203519 • F1-10498 • SM1-192 • MC-1134 MECHANICAL • ELECTRICAL • PLUMBING • SHEET METAL • BUILDING AUTOMATION • FACILITIES SERVICES Continued Hartford mayoral candidate John Gale said the city of Hartford must do more to promote small business growth. H B J P H O T O | M A T T P I L O N H A R T F O R D MAYORAL RACE 2015

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