He's one of those public servants who bubbles with new ideas, delights in cutting red tape and speaks with candor beyond the point of prudence.
If he were wearing a cowboy shirt, you might confuse the city's commissioner of prisons with Kenny Rogers.
Since his arrival in July 1989, he's become the mayor's point man and lightning rod in an area starved for resources, an arm of city government where taxpayers historically have hated to spend money and a bloody prison riot is just a mistake away.
With the release two weeks ago of Mayor Goode's proposed 10-year plan for the prisons, Patrick Gallagher, 50, is trying to put his stamp on the future of a deeply troubled prison system, calling for new facilities, improved training for guards and more sophisticated control of an inmate population that is growing younger and more violent.
Looking back on the last nine months, Gallagher gives himself a "B- minus."
An outsider hired specifically to shake up the system, he has received decidedly mixed reviews for his performance and has made many enemies in and out of the prison system.
"You can't tiptoe through a major reorganizational change . . . I suppose some people find my style abrasive, but it's not designed to abuse, it's designed to stimulate," Gallagher said. "I've given myself until the end of the mayor's term to have in place all the reforms that will take this system into its third century."
The Rev. Albert Campbell, city Prison Board chairman, described Gallagher's performance as "very acceptable, up to par . . . He's a strong leader, very well informed . . . He's somewhat aggressive, and that can be misperceived and cause difficulties."
Said board member Donald Padova, "Gallagher is doing OK, and that's as far as I can go."
Robert Lucas, president of Local 159 of District Council 33, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, criticizes Gallagher as a bean counter, more interested in controlling his budget than providing security for the overworked guards Lucas represents.
And Janet Leban, executive director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, an inmate advocate group, said Gallagher came to a system "in crisis . . . but so far, nothing looks very promising. The (mayor's study) is disappointing, and Gallagher chose the consultants."
Edward Aguilar, special master to a panel of three Common Pleas judges that has been overseeing a 19-year-old inmate lawsuit against the city prisons, said it's too early to judge Gallagher.
