Robert Ganley (1949-December 23, 2000) was an American

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...

from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Ganley was the city manager of South Portland, Maine (1981–86) and neighboring Portland, Maine (1986-2000) for nearly twenty years.

Early life and education

Ganley was born in

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' mayor-council form of governme ...

. While attending nearby Burlington High School, Ganley played baseball, basketball, and was captain of the football team. He attended the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, where he wrote for the

Daily Collegian The ''Daily Collegian'' is a student-produced news outlet, with a newspaper and website, that is published independently at the Pennsylvania State University. The newspaper is printed twice a week during the fall and spring semesters, and once ...

and was a member of the Beta Kappa Phi fraternity. In 1972, he graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

with a master's degree in public administration. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army and worked in the

Provost marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...

's office at Fort Meade. During his time in South Portland city government, he earned a M.A. in public administration from the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universitie ...

Municipal administration

After two years in the Army, he returned to Massachusetts and worked for the town of Burlington. In 1976, he moved to South Portland, Maine and was appointed assistant city manager. Five years later, he was appointed city manager. In the summer of 1987, homeless residents of Portland protested the lack of sufficient shelter. At the time, the city operated one shelter with 53 beds. To protest this, activists camped out in

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

. Ganley "initially resisted the demands of protesters to open a new shelter, and even threatened to arrest protesters if they did not leave their encampment." Eventually, Ganley acknowledged that the city government "would do its part" to help those experiencing homelessness, which led to the city reopening funding for shelters. Ganley is credited with helping bring the

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

baseball team to the city and the building of the stadium in which they play (

Hadlock Field Hadlock Field is a minor league baseball stadium in Portland, Maine. It is primarily home to the Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League but also the Portland High School Bulldogs and Deering High School Rams baseball teams. The stadium is name ...

). Following his death in late 2000, the team named a luxury suite in Ganley's honor. In 2006, the team inducted Ganley into their Hall of Fame. In December 2000, Ganley died suddenly from a heart attack. He was replaced the next year by Joe Gray as Portland's City Manager. In April 2001, Congressman and Portland resident Tom Allen delivered a memorial speech in his honor to the U.S. House of Representatives.

References

External links

Robert B. Ganley
South Portland Historical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganley, Bob 1949 births 2000 deaths People from Woburn, Massachusetts People from Burlington, Massachusetts University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Fels Institute of Government alumni University of Southern Maine alumni City managers of Portland, Maine Portland Sea Dogs