Hartford Business Journal

5 to Watch in 2017 18 Hartford Business Journal • decemBer 26, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com 5 "At this point, I think we're just about out of options both responsible and irresponsible." Convincing state lawmakers to make major reforms that steer more revenue to cash-strapped cities — whether through sales tax redistributions, payment-in-lieu- of-taxes increases or some other mecha- nism — will be Bronin's most significant challenge in 2017. "My No. 1 priority is not the battle we've chosen, it's the battle we have to fight, and that's the battle to get the city of Hartford through a historic fiscal crisis and on the path to fiscal health, and that can't be done through local action alone," Bronin said. "There aren't enough cuts to be made and we already have taxes that make it awfully hard to grow." He also continues the difficult work of trying to convince often skeptical residents of surrounding towns that Hartford is worth bailing out. On Dec. 6, Bronin told a West Hartford audience in a two-plus-hour meeting that a Hartford bankruptcy would be a long, expensive process that would make the Capital City front-page news across the country, with- out totally solving future deficits. "It would have enormous reputational costs to us as a state," Bronin said. City Council President Thomas "TJ" Clarke II — a Bronin ally and fellow first termer — said another year without major changes in state funding will create "an extremely tight" situation for Hartford. "We'll be talking about cutting senior centers, rec centers," decisions that would impact "our most vulnerable popu- lations," Clarke said. While he was on Bronin's slate of coun- cil candidates in the 2015 election, Clarke said he and the mayor haven't agreed on everything. Clarke didn't support Bronin's omnibus bill pitched to the state legislature earlier this year, which would have consolidated union bargaining in the city and taken some fiscal oversight powers away from the coun- cil, as well as imposed a surcharge on large commercial properties and nonprofits. It wasn't clear at press time what type of proposal will be pitched this year. Bronin said all options remain on the table and he's been consistently outspo- ken about what he views as a long-term structural problem that could lead Hart- ford to bankruptcy if left unchecked. "I think more than anything else … I just tried to be direct, honest and transparent about both the opportunities and enormous challenges we face as a city," Bronin said. Though Clarke said he believes in transparency, he worries that Bronin's outspokenness on the city's financial struggles may have drawn too much nega- tive attention, possibly even from ratings agencies, which have downgraded the city's debt ratings several times this year. "To me, the communication should have been more carefully scripted," — with a new sense of vibrancy. UConn's new downtown location aims to create a neighborhood campus by closely linking with nearby cultural institutions and state and government agencies, including the Hartford Public Library, which will house UConn class - rooms and study areas. The project will also bring a Barnes & Noble bookstore and the School of Social Work downtown. "For UConn, moving to downtown Hartford is a return to our roots since this campus originated in the city,'' Cruick- shank said. "We are excited to be part of the energy supporting the growth and revitalization of Hartford and the oppor- tunities that being in the state's Capital City make available to our students." Although she arrived three years ago, well after UConn administrators and trustees had decided to open in Hartford, Cruickshank's eye and expertise were cru- cial in helping UConn avoid an embarrass- ing space-constraint situation. She credits the city, the Capital Region Development Authority, and the Hartford Public Library for partnering in a solution. "It quickly became apparent that the [campus' programs] required a building larger than appropriate for the Hart- ford Times site and its neighborhood,'' she said. "I relayed that message to the UConn administration, and that led to research and discussion about the idea of an urban campus, such as [New York University], Temple and Yale, where aca- demic and support space are located in multiple buildings." Cruickshank is quick to note that the downtown campus, to replace its half-cen- tury-old one in West Hartford, is one of sev- eral underway or coming under the 10-year, $2 billion capital-building program now known as Next Generation Connecticut. "This is a piece of the puzzle,'' she said, "and if one piece gets too big, it throws off the whole project." Cruickshank arrived at UConn in Feb. 2013 from cross-state rival Yale Universi- ty, where she had been a planner-designer since 2002. She is a 1975 graduate of Mas- sachusetts' Mt. Holyoke College, and earned her master of architecture degree from the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning in 1980. One of her Yale projects was the cre- ation of a Singapore campus for a liber- al-arts college that Yale collaborated in establishing there. Despite her career arc through aca- demia, the married Mansfield Center resi- dent is no stranger to the private sector. Cruickshank spent eight years in private practice, with stops in Westchester and Rochester, N.Y., and Albuquerque, N.M., before moving to Hamden in 1988. She worked from 1988 to 1995 at Noyes Vogt Architects in Guilford, and from 1995 to 2002 at Nelson Edward Cruick- shank Architects, now Nelson Edwards Co. Architects, in Branford. At UConn's flagship campus in the Storrs section of Mansfield, the school this fall fin- ished renovation of a classroom building. Also, work is underway on a $95 million engineering/sciences building and the $163 million Innovation Partnership Building in UConn's Tech Park development. Like the downtown campus, both are set for 2017 completion. As for UConn's Hartford campus, Cruick- shank said she anticipates no major holdups as work progresses smoothly toward a late summer completion, in time for the start of fall classes. "We believe it will be a terrific success — but it would make construction a bit easier if we don't have 3 feet of snow all winter!" she said " … We'll push right to the finish line.'' n Malloy approached him over the summer and asked him to take on a new role. "In August we talked about reappoint- ment, but he said 'I really want you to do this,' " House recounted during a recent interview in his new office at 55 Farming- ton Ave. in Hartford, where the Depart- ment of Administrative Services' technol- ogy division is housed. Among House's assigned tasks in the coming year: Developing a statewide cybersecurity plan across multiple state agencies; identifying ways to respond to potential cyber attacks and related dis- ruptions; and making inroads with the private sector to better understand how the state can help companies, hospitals and others improve their own cybersecu- rity. He is also expected to participate in PURA's cybersecurity meetings. House admits that he's daunted by the scope of his new job, but is optimistic about the work, and believes Malloy was wise to create the position. "I think the creation of the position itself was a recognition that we need to learn more about cybersecurity and how it affects us," House said. "The first step before we get to businesses is to make sure we have our own act together in the state of Connecticut." But discussions with the defense, banking, insurance, utilities and health- care sectors are already beginning. Some of those industries have advanced securi- ty, but House said he thinks the state can still help. His national-security clearance, which he received when working for the Director of National Intelligence in 2009, could prove to be an advantage in creat- ing better collaboration with industry. "It makes me much more savvy about what's going on," he said. He won't be able to share direct clas- sified information with industry, but he said it will help him identify developing problems as soon as possible and reach out to potentially impacted companies. While House will seek to beef up cybersecurity for various companies, he said he is no "czar." Any cooperation from private industry would be voluntary. He doesn't have the power to regulate companies, like he did at PURA. And he doesn't want to worry businesses. "We need to cooperate and we want to do what we can to help them be more secure," House said. "We're not going down some new regulatory path here." In November, House visited Ukraine — the site of the first known cyber attack on utility infrastructure — to learn and share experiences with officials from a small consortium of countries. No such attack has happened on U.S. soil, but House said hackers regularly probe system defenses used by both state agencies and companies. Connecticut needs to better prepare for the possibility of an attack, which could have consequences far more dev- astating than Superstorm Sandy or the 2011 snowstorm that knocked out power in some places for several weeks, he said. While cybersecurity is a highly tech- nical subject, House readily admits he is no technocrat, though his security clear- ance has allowed him to witness cyber- security operations to which the public is not privy. "I'm a strategy and policy guy," he said. House, who is married with three daugh- ters attending college, reports to the state's chief information officer, Mark Raymond. Raymond said House brings "an abil- ity to coalesce" industry leaders and an understanding of the broader challenge of cybersecurity. While the state hasn't played much of a role helping industry with cybersecurity, Raymond sees it as fitting into a broader col- laboration with private entities related to public health and emergency management. "I'm thrilled we have him in that role," Raymond said. "I think we're doing some- thing very different." In his free time, House enjoys read- ing, writing, gardening and sailing on his 12-foot boat. "I burn a lot of wood in the winter," he said. "I'm an old Yankee and I feel inse- cure if my woodpile is low." n Bronin Cruickshank House

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