8 questions for Michael D. Byrne
Gallup Business Improvement District Manager
by Fowler Roberts
Q. So, what got you interested in working for the Business Improvement District?
A. I have a number of friends here in Gallup. Some have lived and worked here for a while and they became aware of a part-time position with the BID and that is what brought me down here.
Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?
A. The cross section of private entrepreneurship and government and policy, as well as the challenges associated with getting things done through the rules and regulations that are set up – particularly on the government side.
Q. What is the biggest challenge of your job?
A. Together, working with the Board there are a lot of ideas out there and a lot of potential, I think. A lot of people are attracted to Gallup for their own reasons and there are also a lot of opportunities to improve the business climate. I think the biggest challenge is sifting through all of those opportunities and identifying a plan of action.
Q. What are your priorities as manager of the Business Improvement District?
A. Well, we have a lot of ideas out there in a business plan that was drafted before I got here. My primary objectives right now are: implementing some capital projects funded by a grant that we receive from the state, planning an annual membership meeting in January, and working on the Downtown Christmas initiative which is going to go on for three weekends beginning in December. I am also working on some longer-term plans for cross walk safety on Route 66.
Q. What do you see as the future for the Business Improvement District in Gallup?
A. That is going to be up to the Board of Directors and the City. Business Improvement Districts – as they are conceived in state law – are beneficial. They can do a lot of good in place of government. They are a little more flexible.
Q. What do you enjoy doing in your off time?
A. I work on the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee in Newark, New Jersey where I’m from. It’s something I have been associated with since I could walk. This year I’m the General Chairman so that’s what is going to take up my free time.
Q. What is your favorite book?
A. Right now I’m reading The Virginian by Owen Wister. It’s a book about a Southerner and a story about the frontier in the 1880s and 1890s. So far, it has centered on the challenges of leadership and love and it’s been very interesting for me to read, I think, for those reasons.
Q. If you could trade places with one famous person, who would it be and why?
A. I read a story recently about Francis Scott Key and the War of 1812, so he is on my mind. The British admiral trained his guns on the American Flag in an attempt to force surrender but, like they sing in the song, throughout the night the Flag kept standing and throughout the night the admiral could not figure out why. In the morning they discovered that the Americans had continued to flock to the Flag to keep it upright. By morning it was held by bodies of Americans piled around it. It is an amazing image and amazing to think of what they did for love of country.
