Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin is in his second term in office and his tenure has been marked by several significant issues including convincing the legislature to pass a massive $550-million-plus long-term bailout to help the city avert potential bankruptcy; firing and then hiring a new developer to complete Dunkin’ Donuts Park and surrounding development; and, of course, dealing with the pandemic in a city home to two large hospitals and a population hit hard by the health and economic impacts of COVID-19.
Bronin, who has been viewed favorably by the business community, will see a major economic development project come to fruition in the first half of this year when the first 270 apartments of Randy Salvatore’s North Crossing development debut. The residential units, in the shadow of Dunkin’ Donuts Park, have been years in the making, and Bronin played a key role in firing the project’s original developer and then bringing in Salvatore to take it over.
Bronin also helped with the $14 million redevelopment of Dillon Stadium.
Most of his last two years in office have been dominated by responding to the pandemic through the adoption of certain restrictions and recovery efforts, including helping launch a grant program to fill empty storefronts. One of the biggest challenges lately is getting residents a sufficient supply of at-home COVID-19 test kits.
The city, like others across the country, has also seen a spike in violent crime, including homicides.
Overall, Bronin, a Rhodes Scholar and Yale Law School graduate who previously served as general counsel to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and held senior posts in the U.S. Treasury Department, has been credited with stabilizing the city’s tenuous finances through budget cuts, renegotiated union contracts, and greater state funding. He is also a man of great political ambition.
He explored a run for governor in 2018 and likely has an eye on higher public office in the future.