Galle says commissioners need to listen

BRADENTON – They have to listen to the people.

Roger C. Galle is running for the District 4 County Commission seat held by outgoing board member Ron Getman.

Roger C. Galle, 55, is the only Democrat in the race, but he cautioned that he's a "conservative Democrat." He has never run for elected office before.

It's become a mantra in politics that everyone wants elected officials to listen to the people and to the other side, and Galle (pronounced "gale") said that's what's going to happen after he wins the District 4 seat on the County Commission.

"I think when you get into public office, you have to listen to both sides of the floor to make the responsible decision," he said. "I don't think your decisions should be based upon a party decision."

It would be different for a state or national office, he said.

"I personally believe that in local politics, politics shouldn't be partisan. It's all about getting along and getting things done," he said.

He'll be unopposed in the primary, but then will go up against the winner of the Republican primary.

But Galle said there's lots of no-party-affiliation folks out there who can swing the election, and he said he's sure they'll go for him when they hear his message.

"My point is to get out and speak to all the people in the district, let them know my stance and let them make their decision based on that," Galle said.

He owns a small commercial painting company that works on restaurants and, like many in the construction industry, he's been hit by the recession. Looking around the Starbucks where he met with a reporter, he said proudly, "We painted this building."

As of his last financial report, Galle has raised just $460 for his campaign. Again, like others who hope to win elected office, his plan is to bring the campaign to the people.

Doing what the people want

The County Commission has gotten away from the people and its members tend to be unresponsive, Galle said.

"You can call a commissioner today, and sometimes you don't get an answer for a week," he said. "Sometimes you never get an answer. I have called and not gotten an answer."

Many people have the perception that you can't talk to the commissioners because they don't listen, Galle said.

Recent land use decisions have caused upset, and the belief that the people's views aren't respected, he said.

"I think some of the decisions that are made in the County Commission now aren't people-based. They're not the wishes of the people," Galle said. "When a room-full of people are against something and your decision is not what they want, you should do what the people want.

"I just don't think that the people are getting heard."

Galle admitted that he knew nothing about Amendment 4, the controversial measure on November's ballot that would require public votes on land use changes, but he said he's for anything that has the people making the decisions.

"If it entails the people making the decisions, then that's what it should be," he said. "The voter has to be an informed voter. A lot of people vote for things they have no idea what they mean because of the wording."

For example, he noted, Florida voters approved a rail system measure, then disapproved it.

"We have to educate people," Galle said. "I'm sure when this comes up for the vote in November, by that time I'm sure the people who are going to vote might be educated enough to make those decisions."

Being a commissioner means listening to the people, he said, and doing what they want. He was going to run for the District 4 seat before Ron Getman said he'd not seek another term, but Getman leaving increased his chances, Galle said.

"My chances went from 25-75 to 50-50 because the person I have to run against has just exactly as much experience running the County Commission as I do: zero," he said.

Down on drilling

Nearly all local elected officials have come out against the prospect of near-short oil drilling, and Galle is no exception.

It's a matter of preserving the tourism industry, which is one of the bastions of the local economy, he said. Also, the economic benefits are so far into the future that it's not worth risking the clean beaches for a distant payoff.

"The oil they're going to get out of there isn't going to even give the state enough money to get us out of this hole we're in. We'll be out of this bad economy before that oil ever comes out of the ground," he said. "I've been to Galveston. I went to Galveston last year. I've walked on their beaches. You can see the oil rigs out there. There isn't any oil on their beach. We're more likely to have a cargo ship hit than one of those oil rigs. I'm still against it. So much of our economy this time of year is based upon visitors. If we lose that, then we're really in trouble."

Forget the flow of oil, Galle said, it's the flow of northerners that matter to this area. If that stops, the area will be in real trouble.

"As long as there's snow in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania, and Ontario, they're always going to go to Florida," he said. "It's the best choice, as long as we have things that attract them. You take the beaches away, you take one of their major attractions. They all want to live on the beach."

Sheriff's budget too tight

Driving his daughter to Bayshore High School, Galle said he can see the gang graffiti that appears, gets covered, and then comes back.

"We still have crime in Bradenton that needs to be addressed. The sheriff's department is working on it, but you have gangs that have taken over parts of this town," he said. "Somewhere along the line, the sheriff's department is going to need help, and I know no one is going to vote for a tax for this. I think there is, somewhere in the county budget, that would allow the county to maybe lower their standards for this and raise the standards for our sheriff's department."

With the very tight county budget, Galle said, there has to be a way to fund the sheriff, including possibly a tax on phone cards or money transfers.

Still, a tax to help the Sheriff's Office might not fly. The thing to do would be to offer a plan and let the people decide.

"I still think that if the County Commission and the sheriff proposes a one-cent tax on things and comes out with a plan of exactly what he's going to do with it, I think the people would vote for it," Galle said. "You have to put it to a vote of the people. You can't let the commission make that decision. You have to put some of the government into the hands of the people so they feel like they're making these decisions."

And if the people decide it's not what they want, the sheriff will have to live with it, he said.

Galle said deputies have told him the department doesn't have enough people, and he said the area has changed dramatically in the past few years.

"People want to feel safe in their town. When I moved here 30 years ago, you could walk on any street in this town, and you felt safe. You can't say that now," he said, claiming that at the mall people almost need a police escort. "We have to change the way people think in Manatee County. It's not a given anymore that you're going to be protected by the sheriff's department because their staff is cut so low, they can't protect everybody. And they're spread out; we're a big county. You can't expect our sheriff's department to take care of such a large county with a little amount of money."

Looking for recovery

The local economy is a big issue in any election campaign, and Galle said he's not sure that tourism isn't the only answer, and small businesses aren't the only answer, either.

"Small business, unless that small business has something that the tourists want or are looking for, that small business is not going to make it," he said. "There are a lot of us in the small business industry that have just left it. Until Uncle Sam figures out a way to get that money back to us, we're not going to get any money for small businesses in the county."

Tourists may not find what they're looking for in the county, Galle admitted, and even workers are starting to give up on the area.

Boat-building, once a mainstay of the economy along with home building, has left as sales dried up.

"A lot of people have left because we don't have businesses. If we get the businesses back, the people will come back," he said. Another thing is that if businesses come back, there's a need to keep the county from becoming "a safe county for illegal immigrants to live."

Galle said the bad economy has driven illegal immigrants out of the area, but they may come back if things improve. The important thing is to use systems like eVerify to confirm that a worker is allowed to work in the country.

He said he sees the impact of illegal immigration more than the average, because of his work in the construction industry.

"When a policeman pulls up on a job site, or the fire chief pulls up to his inspection, the room clears. It clears for a reason," Galle said. "These people obviously aren't here legally, and we can't put them in jail, because if we put them in jail, we have to raise tax dollars to keep them in jail."

Confident he can win

As of Feb. 15, there are 86,438 registered Republicans, 68,064 registered Democrats and 47,104 others in Manatee County, according to the Supervisor of Elections Web site. Still, the Democrats have a slight edge in registrations in District 4, according to the January district list report.

Galle said he can win this campaign because of who he is, someone who's above the idea of party.

"I got into this because a Republican asked me to do this," he said. "I don't pick my friends because of party lines."

He isn't into the idea of getting big donations. "When I ask for donations, it'll be personal donations," he said. "I would rather have 10 $10 donations from 10 different people than a $100 donation from someone who's going to ask a favor of me when I'm sitting in that chair."

Ultimately, Galle said it's about being accessible to the people and hearing their views, and then voting the way they want him to vote on issues before the commission.

"People who are interested in what I have to say, they can call me. My phone number is in the book," he said. "I've lived here for 33 years and I promise I will call you back and answer your questions."