We-Ha.com is offering our readers the opportunity to meet the candidates running in the Nov. 4, 2025 municipal election. 

Compiled by Ronni Newton

We-Ha.com is offering our readers the opportunity to “Meet the Candidate” – designed to help them get to know the candidates running for office in the 2025 municipal election.

Identical questionnaires have been sent to all candidates, and each profile received has been submitted directly to We-Ha.com by the candidate or the candidate’s campaign management. The responses have not been edited but have been formatted to match our publication style. Questions left blank have been noted.

As profiles are received, they will be published on We-Ha.com under the “Government” tab. We-Ha.com is not making endorsements of any political candidates but we are publishing this information in order to assist voters in being informed and prepared when they go to the polls on Nov. 4.

If you are a candidate and wish to submit a profile, please return it by email to Ronni Newton at [email protected] as soon as possible.

TOWN COUNCIL CANDIDATE

Name: Gayle Harris

Party affiliation: Republican

Family information: I am a proud mother of four amazing children who all attended private and public schools in West Hartford

Primary occupation: Physician

Previous political experience: I am currently a West Hartford Board of Education member

Other relevant experience that may be related to your desire to serve the community, and further qualifies you for the office you are seeking: I have lived in West Hartford most of my life. I attended Aiken Elementary, King Philip Middle School and Hall High School. All of my children attended the wonderful schools in town as well. I am currently a Board of Education member and have an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of our schools as well as the budget. I have held many positions of leadership in my professional career and within community organizations as well.

Why are you running for office? I want to see West Hartford thrive, but I believe we are not addressing the issues that most affect our citizens. We have increased fatalities on our roads. Crime in town has increased as well. Overdevelopment is boosting traffic and pollution, which then affects the rate of motor vehicle accidents and our overall health. Antisemitism and other forms of hatred are growing in our country and also here in West Hartford. We must address these issues head on to preserve the character of our town,

There have recently been numerous residential and commercial developments approved by the Town Council, and it is likely that more will be considered during the upcoming Council term. What is your overall opinion of the pace of development in West Hartford? I believe that the pace of development is inappropriate and does not serve our citizens’ interests. Most of these units are unaffordable for average people and are mostly serving to enrich contractors. I am not opposed to development, but I am opposed to the rapid pace and dense overdevelopment we have seen in the last few years. As a Board of Education member, I have received many emails from citizens who were forced to move out of our town because they could not afford to live here. On one hand we are densely overdeveloping but average people are being forced out of town because they cannot afford the cost of a rental unit

What are your specific ideas for keeping future budget increases to a minimum? In order to keep the budget in line, you need to understand the school budget which is about two thirds of our overall expenditures. The school budget is a rollover budget, which means that year to year the budget is simply rolled over to the next year. I believe a more careful look at our school budget could help us find savings. Implementing a Finance Committee at the school level could be helpful in finding budgetary savings. This request which was brought up several times by the Republican members of the Board of Education was roundly voted down by the Democratic majority on the board of education.  A finance committee would only help keep our budget under control.

In addition, we need to look at unnecessary expenses such as outsourcing services to private organizations or contractors, when we could potentially handle these items in-house.  We should also look at underutilized facilities, especially parking garages, to see if we can cut costs.

How do you think the town will need to/be able to respond to cuts in federal aid to education, Medicaid, and food assistance? This is difficult to predict. The funds that were initially withheld by the Federal Government to our schools were completely reinstated. However, the State of Connecticut has not reimbursed our schools at the levels they promised for special education services now for several years. This impacts our school budget significantly every year.

Do national issues affect your approach to local governance, and if so, how? National issues can affect local governance to a degree, but ultimately, it’s unfair to blame the national government for our predicament. We have not done a good job of holding down costs as taxes have risen year and year in West Hartford. Crime and fatal motor vehicle accidents are up as well. We have chosen to overdevelop at a rapid pace as well. These issues can be handled at the local level but have not been.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing West Hartford today, and how do you plan to address it if elected? It’s hard to pick just one issue that is the biggest challenge for our town. Our budget is ballooning, making it impossible for average people to afford to live here.  Our schools, despite an increase of about 35 million dollars over the last 4 years, are not improving and the achievement gap still remains a big problem. We need a bipartisan approach to getting the budget under control. Government works best when there is reasonable compromise.

What do you feel differentiates you from the candidates from other parties – or your own party – who are also running for this position? Having spent four years on the Board of Education I understand how our town government works and how unsustainable our budget currently is. If we do not get the budget under control, West Hartford will become a town where only those who are rich can afford to live. I am willing to work with those who agree with me and those who do not agree with me. I have a record of being able to work across the aisle at the Board of Education.

Anything else you would like to share relevant to earning votes on Nov. 4? Our slate is a diverse slate with smart intelligent engaged candidates who come from a variety of backgrounds. Our main goal is to improve the town. We believe West Hartford can and should do better. We believe everyone should be able to afford to live in West Hartford. We believe in supporting our first responders and making our town safer. We hope you will consider voting for the Republican slate for Board of Education and Town Council in November

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