NORWALK, Conn. – Financing appears to be a major stumbling block for potential bidders to install and operate a practice range at Norwalk’s Oak Hills.

Oak Hills Park Authority officials differ slightly on the amount of bidders thinking of submitting proposals – one or two – but agree that financing is an issue. One said the deadline may be extended for the second time.

The latest deadline to submit bids to the park is 2 p.m. Wednesday. The deadline was originally May 1, but was moved back to May 22 to allow bidders more time to get their financing in order, said Ernie Desrochers, chairman of the Oak Hills Park Authority driving range committee.

The OHPA held a meeting last week that didn’t make it onto the calendar on the city’s website. Ardent driving range opponents Paul Cantor, Diane Cece and Diane Lauricella were the only non-authority members in attendance. There were no reporters.

There are many boulders in the Norwalk Oak Hills Park ravine that officials think would be a good place for a driving range.

Cece quoted Desrochers as saying there is only one bidder interested, a report Desrochers confirmed in an email.

“What I said was I understood that there was one potential bidder left and the reason the bid was extended was the fact that getting his financing together was taking longer then expected,” he said.

Shelly Guyer, executive director of the park, thinks there are two bidders.

“The issue that we’re hearing and, it’s not just from one, it’s from two of them, is they’re having problems getting financing,” he said.

Why the discrepancy?

“Different people hear different things,” he said.

Guyer said it would be up to the authority whether to extend the deadline again.

“They may grant it, they may not,” he said. “If nobody is going to put in a bid (because of the deadline) it doesn’t make sense to not give them time.”

None of this surprises Cantor, an economist.

“The more rent they charge, the higher percentage of the gross receipts they ask for, the lower profits of any private concern can earn, the more discouraged they will be from spending millions of dollars to construct a driving range,” he said. “That is an issue aside from the issue that the driving range will have large ugly nets. It’s in a park which has limited amount of acres, maybe not the best place for a driving range, aside from everything else.”

NORWALK, Conn. – In his recent letter, Fred Wilms, the chairman of the Board of Estimate and Taxation, wrote the “Oak Hills Park Authority (OHPA) needs additional revenues to stay alive” and then followed that statement by claiming the authority is financially viable. But if it is financially viable it doesn’t need additional revenues to survive.

Mr. Wilms then claimed that the driving range is “the most coherent” solution presented to solve the OHPA’s financial problems. But a driving range built and operated by a private concern intent on recovering its construction costs and earning a profit is highly unlikely to make any substantial contribution to solving the financial problems faced by the OHPA.

Mr. Wilms went on to contend that providing the OHPA with millions of dollars in low interest loans and then restructuring those loans again and again does not amount to a taxpayer subsidy. But, of course, that is not true. The OHPA could not obtain such favorable and forgiving terms on money borrowed from the private sector.

Finally, Mr. Wilms concluded: “We cannot risk losing this community gem.”

The implication of his conclusion is that without the driving range there will be no golf course and without the golf course there will be no Oak Hills Park. But it is not necessarily the case that without an additional source of income from a driving range the golf course cannot survive intact. And it is not true that without the golf course there would be no Oak Hills Park.

Indeed, if, as Mr. Wilms asserts, the OHPA can cover the cost of operating and maintaining the golf course, a good case can be made for allowing it to do so. However, if Mr. Wilms is wrong and the OHPA can’t cover the cost of operating and maintaining the golf course because the OHPA is not capable of managing it well and/or because there has been a decrease in the demand for spending 4.5 hours playing 18 holes of golf on a course designed for heavy hitters, then the course might be reduced in size and the land freed up as a result used for purposes appropriate to a public park. In short, there are many alternatives for Oak Hills Park that would balance the needs of all taxpayers.

So yes, as Mr. Wilms maintains, Oak Hills Park is a gem. It is a gem belonging to Norwalk taxpayers that would be badly scarred if a large driving range with its high ugly nets destroyed its only remaining nature preserve, further limited non-golfers access to the park, and generated additional traffic, noise and pollution harmful to the West Norwalk residential neighborhood in which it is located.

Paul Cantor

NORWALK, Conn. – I’m glad to see that the Norwalk Democrats are considering a real alternative to Mr. Moccia. Vincent Mangiacopra is a different kind of candidate and the type of leader that Norwalk needs in the Mayor’s office.

His call for Norwalk’s Future Now is poignant, because Norwalk desperately needs to move forward. Mr. Mangiacopra is not part of the bickering old guard – D and R alike – that has been “running” the city for the past 20 plus years. Norwalk’s taxpayers are sick and tired of it.

During my time as chairman of the DTC, Mr. Mangiacopra invested countless hours working to improve our city; fighting to ensure that all Norwalkers had a voice at the table. He understands the issues facing the city and he has the creativity and managerial experience necessary to jump start Norwalk’s growth.

In his announcement speech, Mr. Mangiacopra proposed real solutions to help Norwalk reach its potential. As a Norwalk business owner himself, Mr. Mangiacopra knows that small, local businesses are the engines of the city. He called for the creation of an Economic Development Office to better streamline the process for businesses to move to Norwalk, and more importantly, to help existing businesses grow and prosper. Mr. Mangiacopra understands that hammering businesses with taxes and fees won’t move the city forward or put people back to work.

He promised to vastly expand “community policing” with an aim at reestablishing trust between the police and the residents of Norwalk. He called for an around-the-clock, boots-on-the-ground approach (including his boots) to let residents know that the city cares whether or not your kids are safe in the community. He also pledged to bring a Boys and Girls Club to the city. With the loss of the YMCA, this type of public-private investment is exactly what Norwalk’s children deserve.

Lastly, Mr. Mangiacopra doesn’t need a reminder about the importance of a good public school system. He lives with someone who knows; his wife Kelsie is a public elementary school teacher in the Norwalk. Mr. Mangiacopra understands that teachers are much more than “budget busters,” as the Republican leadership has expressed, and he has pledged to work with the BOE and school employees to devise a plan to weather the current budget crunch and to create a topnotch school system that will attract new families (aka taxpayers) to Norwalk.

These investments cost money and Mr. Mangiacopra knows that. But these investments are necessary to rebuild Norwalk and make it the vibrant and attractive place that it should be. In the coming months I’m confident that he will lay out a detailed plan to bring forward Norwalk’s Future Now, and I am excited to endorse his candidacy for Mayor.

Marc Bradley

Norwalk Democratic Town Committee, Chairman (2010 – 2012)

Chairman, Board of Estimate and Taxation

NORWALK, Conn. – Oak Hills Park Authority (OHPA) needs additional revenues to stay alive. If these revenues are not achieved, then as their independent auditor states, “(there is) substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”

While interest in a driving range has existed for years, OHPA’s financial difficulties have brought the driving range idea to the forefront. OHPA has been working closely with the city on the Request for Proposal for the range.

There has been a lot of community discussion over the driving range. The most vocal opponents appear to be reacting from an intensely passionate environmental perspective. However since Oak Hills has been a Norwalk gem for decades and a source of community pride for many, there has been strong city support to help OHPA regain its footing.

Therefore this letter attempts to address questions raised by other Norwalk citizens.

How did OHPA get into this financial mess? Two things happened. The first was the recession, which has driven down golf rounds from 45,716 in 2008 to 33,167 in 2012. The second was the city decision in 2005 to require the OHPA to assume the $2.275 million restaurant debt. In retrospect the restaurant and its debt were too large – a much smaller and less costly venue would have served the golfers better.

Do Norwalk taxpayer dollars pay for OHPA operations? No. There is no line item in the city operating budget for Oak Hills. Created by the Common Council in 1997, OHPA has its’ own revenue stream – like the Parking Authority or the WPCA. OHPA revenues come from golf fees, ID cards, cart revenue and rental income – not from tax dollars.

But doesn’t the City support OHPA? Yes, in the form of loans. The first city loan to OHPA was in 1999; $990,000 to fund the installation of the irrigation system. This loan has been repaid down to $260,526. Additional $2,275,000 loans were made in 2005 and 2006 to finance the restaurant construction. The restaurant loans have been repaid down to $1,971,067. Smaller loans in 2009 and 2012 were made to finance cart path paving plus other capital improvement projects.

Has OPHA taken steps to improve itself? Yes. The new leaders have cut costs and raised fees. In exchange the city modified the OHPA loans to spread out the repayments. However all of these steps are still not enough.

What about the recent $150,000 loan to OHPA? Authorized 13-1 by the Common Council and approved by the BET, this loan prevented OHPA from running out of cash this winter. While OHPA has always had negative winter cash flow, its weakened state created this seasonal emergency for the first time – hence the urgency to move forward.

Where does the city get the money for the OHPA loans? The city issues bonds as part of its normal capital budget process. OHPA repays the loans to the city and the city repays the bonds to its investors. The whole process is designed to be a wash and at no cost to the Norwalk taxpayers.

Is golf still financially viable at OHPA? Yes. From July 2011 through December 2012, OHPA generated positive cash flow of $170,959 before the restaurant debt repayments and capital expenditures. So OHPA is making money from core operations. However it is not enough.

In conclusion, we are at a financial crossroads. OHPA needs additional revenues to repay the restaurant debt plus cover the winter months. The most coherent new revenue idea that has been presented is the driving range. We cannot risk losing this community gem. Doing nothing is no longer an option.

Fred Wilms

Chairman, Board of Estimate and Taxation

NORWALK, Conn. – Vinny Mangiacopra says he wants to improve Norwalk city government’s communication with its citizens and between departments and hints at changes in some key positions should he be elected mayor. He also was the only one of the four Democratic candidates who signed a statement agreeing to stay true to the party platform and ideals.

Andy Garfunkel took a pass.

You asked, and NancyOnNorwalk responded. When the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) asked Norwalk’s Democratic mayoral candidates to respond to a questionnaire, several readers expressed a desire to see their answers. We asked all the candidates to send us their responses. Matt Miklave beat us to the punch – his campaign sent his questionnaire before we sent our request. Harry Rilling’s campaign responded almost immediately. Vinny Mangiacopra came through late last week.

Andy Garfunkel responded with an email saying he refused the DTC’s request for the “pledge” and the questionnaire from the beginning, and that he would be happy to discuss it. Another request to answer the questions – with or without the questions pertaining to the DTC – sent May 14 went unanswered, as did a follow-up phone call Sunday.

Here are a few of the highlights from Mangiacopra’s questionnaire. The complete questionnaire is attached at the end of the article. To see responses from Miklave and Rilling, click here.

Mangiacopra has been campaigning on a platform that includes more transparency in government, and took it a step further in his responses.

“I will enhance the communication to our citizens immensely,” he said. “I want be a mayor who is in dialogue with his city constantly. We will enhance the television viewing so our citizens can listen to a quality meeting. We should consider broadcasting all public meetings live on the Internet. … We will also have active social media portals, e-newsletters, and Interactive online forums.”

The 31-year-old candidate, who would be the city’s youngest mayor ever, said new eyes and new blood is needed in City Hall, specifically mentioning the finance and public works departments.

He also said Mayor Richard Moccia “missed a major opportunity to invest in education this year.

“With the teachers accepting a freeze on their pay – something that this administration has been pushing their union to take for over three years – it would have been an opportune time to at the very least to put those savings back into our schools.”

To download the complete questionnaire, along with some additional items he sent us, click the link below.

Mangiacopra DTC responses

NORWALK, Conn. – Something happened last week that we haven’t gotten to tell you about: bipartisan windmill tilting in Norwalk’s council chambers.

Both Zoning Commissioner Mike Mushak (a Democrat) and Common Councilman Nike Kydes (R-District C) have separate but similar visions for the future of Norwalk, visions that they tried to persuade others to see in two separate meetings.

Mushak sees “Welcome to Norwalk” emblazoned on a prominent (but ugly) landmark. Kydes wants to make Norwalk’s Tree City designation more extreme – wouldn’t it be great, he said, if people came here for something like Fairfield’s Dogwood Festival?

Kydes’ Don Quixote-esque exhibition came first, before the council’s unanimous approval of the West Avenue corridor landscape design master plan. As council members from one end of the spectrum to the other shifted in their seats and fidgeted, the chairman of the Planning Committee wanted it on the record that, “We’re going to try, we’re going to more than try, we’re going to develop a plan that is going to encompass, include more blossoming trees.”

Kydes would like to work with planners to select those trees.

“I think this is an opportunity to really have Norwalk develop into an attraction, for other people in the area to come in on a regular basis, to look at these blossoming trees, to have a vista of beautiful blossoming trees from one end of Norwalk all the way up to West Avenue, down to Wall Street eventually,” he said. “This is a long-term vision that I have. From Wall Street to East Avenue, from East Avenue down to Vets Park, from Vets park over the bridge back to Washington Street, in South Norwalk.”

That glorious long-term vision of Norwalk’s future includes a visit to the past, with trolleys to drop people off at interesting spots on the loop – but it doesn’t look like it will go far.

Councilman Bruce Kimmel (D-District D) was the first to shoot his hand up, looking to make sure that the vote didn’t include reworking the tree design.

Then Councilman Matt Miklave (D-District A) went “there.”

“Because I don’t believe that this plan – wait for it – gets down to this level of weeds and bushes, I will vote for it as it’s presented,” he said.

Not to be outdone on a pun, Mayor Richard Moccia followed him with, “We don’t want to bark up the wrong tree, do we Matt?”

Councilman Fred Bondi (R-At Large) reminded people of what happened on Wall Street when the wrong type of trees were selected. “We had to cut them all down and replant them again. We have to leave this to the professionals and not plant the wrong type of tree.”

Kydes said he didn’t want to change the plan, but when it is finalized, he would like to see more flowering trees picked.

“I believe experts need to decide on the types of trees and shrubbery,” Kimmel said in an email. “There are a variety of factors that need to be considered, such as climate, vehicle exhaust, soil, maintenance and height. It’s not that simple. Moreover, I believe the landscape architects have already devised an interesting scheme for tree placement. It’s not the job of the council to micromanage these types of projects.”

Mushak might have more luck with his vision, though First Taxing District Commissioner Attorney Frank Zullo indicated reticence.

Water towers like this one in Minnesota can be an inspiration to Norwalk, Mike Mushak said. (Photo by Flickr user JD Hancock)

Mushak campaigned at Wednesday’s zoning meeting to have “Welcome to Norwalk” painted on the district’s new water tower, part of the plans for 34 Grandview Ave. that were approved unanimously by the commission – although Zullo wasn’t quite sure the district needed their approval.

“We’re a municipality within a municipality,” he said, reminding everyone of the weird government structure that was spawned when the city of Norwalk swallowed its neighbors in 1913. “Some would argue we’re not bound by zoning. We are here for transparency. We are here for cooperation. We are here to get your approval.”

The new water tank will be quite the upgrade, more than twice the width of the existing tank (from 35 feet to 72 feet), sitting on a wide column instead of four legs and 13 feet taller than that old tank that is there now.

Mushak said the existing tank is visible for three miles, and the new “landmark” will be like a “hot air balloon floating over the city at all times.”

“A huge giant water tank up on the hill is going to be a massive structure,” Mushak said. “At least turn it into something that says, ‘Hey, Welcome to Norwalk.’ Millions of people will see it every year as they drive by on the highways. You actually do see it from 95.”

Zullo said the district is already $2 million over budget – the paint job on the water tower alone is $600,000, as it’s an epoxy. Just painting an emblem was going to cost $30,000, so the district dropped that idea.

Besides that, the neighbors probably wouldn’t like living under “Welcome to Norwalk,” he said.

But, the city might pay for it, Mushak said. “I sent email to the Common Council and a lot of public officials, feedback was 80 percent in favor,” he said.

Mushak said he was just saying that he  wanted it on the record that the district has an open mind on the topic, he said.

“Open minded to consider it if the city was willing to pay for the whole project,” Zullo said, reminding again that he wasn’t sure the First District actually needed permission.

He wouldn’t quite go “there.” He wasn’t threatening to start a First District zoning commission, he was “just saying it’s an argument.”

This visionary idea might come to fruition.

Kimmel, the only speaker in the public hearing, verified Mushak’s “80 percent” claim.

“While I can’t speak for the council, we have had some informal discussions, just throwing some ideas back and forth, and I believe that the council is open-minded when it comes to this issue,” he said. “We might pursue it down the road. I think that most of us believe it is a good idea.”

NORWALK, Conn. – It’s sure to be a snafu in Norwalk Monday, given the Metro-North train wreck in Bridgeport.

That’s the message being relayed one way or another by city officials and local legislators as they try to warn the populace of impending traffic jams, with 20,000 to 30,000 commuters scrambling for alternative transportation.  South Norwalk will be the westernmost point for Metro-North commuters heading into and out of Manhattan along the New Haven corridor, well into the coming week.

“To help accommodate traffic, I am asking Norwalk commuters to work from home if possible,” Mayor Richard Moccia said in a 5:52 p.m. Notify Norwalk message. “If you commute by train, please use bus transport if possible. Car pool if you must drive to the station.

“Residents who live in South Norwalk, especially in the vicinity of the Railroad Station: Please avoid driving in the area and add extra time for travel.”

He’s got another bit of advice: Avoid rush hour traffic.

“Overflow commuter parking will be available in lots close to the SoNo train station and at the Maritime Garage, but traffic congestion is anticipated,” he said.

State Rep. Gail Lavielle has some information for those wondering if the new M-8 cars are responsible for the derailment.

“Folks, I have read the following,” she posted on Facebook. “1) They don’t think it was the new cars. In fact, they are saying that it would have been much worse if the cars involved had been old. 2) They have found a defect in the tracks there, but aren’t sure enough yet to say whether definitively that was the cause. 3) They are not running trains at all west of South Norwalk, so they won’t be running trains through the spot and working on it at the same time.”

Lavielle posted this quote from Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut:

“Our crews will essentially be rebuilding two thousand feet of damaged track, and overhead wires and signal system. This amounts to the wholesale reconstruction of a two-track electrified railroad. It will take multiple days of around-the-clock work to do that, and then to inspect, test and requalify the newly rebuilt infrastructure. Unfortunately, service disruptions on this section of the New Haven Line are expected to continue well into the coming week.”

The Norwalk Police Department will be out in force, according to a Facebook post.

“NPD along with MTA Police will have additional officers available to direct traffic and assist commuters. Review the DOT and MTA websites for specific information on train and bus schedules,” the post says.

The latest press release from the Connecticut Department of Transportation:

Connecticut Commuter Service Plan in effect for Monday, May 20, and until further notice on the New Haven Rail Line.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation and Metro-North Railroad today released the following information regarding service on the New Haven commuter rail line, in the wake of the May 17 derailment in Bridgeport. The service plan requires buses in some locations.  Customers should understand that their commuting times will be considerably longer in many cases.

The following is effective Monday, May 20, and until further notice.

AM Peak to Grand Central

• A shuttle train operating approximately every 20 minutes between New Haven and Bridgeport Station

• Between Bridgeport and Stamford Stations, two bus shuttles will operate:

• Express service from Bridgeport to Stamford Station with regular train connections to Grand Central Terminal

• Local service between Bridgeport, Fairfield Metro, Fairfield and Westport Stations (no bus service from Green’s Farms and Southport Stations)

• Limited train service from Westport Station

• Regular train service from South Norwalk Station to Grand Central Terminal

AM & PM Reverse Peak/Off-Peak Service

• For the AM/PM Peak: Limited train service between Grand Central Terminal and Westport Station

• For the Off-Peak: Regular train service between Grand Central Terminal and Westport Station

• Loop bus service with connections between Bridgeport, Fairfield, Fairfield Metro and Westport Stations (no bus service from Green’s Farms and Southport Stations)

• Express buses between Bridgeport and South Norwalk

   A train shuttle operating approximately every 20 minutes between Bridgeport and New Haven Stations

PM Peak to New Haven

• Regular train service from Grand Central Terminal to South Norwalk Station

• Express bus service from South Norwalk to Bridgeport Station

• Limited train service from Grand Central Terminal to Westport Station

• Local bus shuttle service between Westport, Fairfield, Fairfield Metro and Bridgeport Stations (no bus service from Green’s Farms and Southport Stations)

• A train shuttle operating approximately every 20 minutes between Bridgeport and New Haven Stations

Regular train service will operate on the New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury Branches.

For train schedule information, please refer to the schedules page at www.mta.info or the Connecticut DOT website, www.ct.gov/dot.

Customers should know before they go:

• Travel times will be significantly longer than normal and trains will be significantly crowded

• Metro-North representatives will be at major New Haven Line (NHL) stations to assist customers

• NHL Customers east of South Norwalk are encouraged to seek alternative ways to get to and from work or stagger their work schedule

• If possible, customers are advised to use the Harlem Line as an alternative.  NHL rail tickets will be cross-honored

• ConnDOT will cross-honor NHL pre-paid rail tickets (as a temporary Bus/Rail uniticket) on I-95 Corridor Bus Service

• Metro-North will cross-honor Amtrak tickets

• Sign up for free email or text message service updates at www.mta.info

• Visit our website for periodic service updates

• Listen to the radio and television news: During any emergency, this is the fastest way to find out how train service is affected. We will continuously provide information to the media

• Call our Travel Information Center by dialing 511 and saying “Metro-North.” The Travel Information Center will be fully staffed, and there will also be a taped message describing our current service conditions. Please be aware that the volume of calls at the Travel Information Center will dramatically increase during an emergency, and you may experience delays getting through.

• At your station, listen closely for public address announcements

NORWALK, Conn. – A long-awaited ordinance to address blight in Norwalk is up for discussion this week.

The blight ordinance, as well as a landlord registration ordinance, are the topics of an Ordinance Committee public hearing set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers at City Hall.

Ordinance Committee Chairman Michael Geake (U-District B) said the blight ordinance is “small,” but a beginning.

“Through many, many council sessions, we have been trying to get a blight ordinance,” Geake told the Coalition of Norwalk Neighborhood Associations recently. “All the previous sessions we couldn’t come up with one. We needed to come up with one that would actually pass. We decided we would start small and, if need be, add on as we went along, not have the term end and not come up with one.”

Nevertheless, some see problems with the definitions in the blight ordinance, including those addressing buildings where crime has happened, low-income and elderly residents and people with disabilities.

One of the definitions of blight in the ordinance, attached below, is “property has become a place where criminal activity has taken place as documented by police reports.”

Diane Witt said that clause needs refining.

“Unless you put ‘frequently occurred,’ this would probably qualify for every other house in my neighborhood,” she said, at the CNNA meeting. “It leaves us hanging as to how much police activity are you requiring?”

Geake said city officials wouldn’t apply that standard unless there is frequent crime.

“Our intent is not to use this as a sword,” he said. “Our intent is to get at that small percentage of properties that are truly a problem, and we all know which ones they are.”

Witt was also concerned about the language regarding elderly property owners, a person more than 65 years old, “who doesn’t have a household member capable of providing the maintenance necessary to abate blight.”

Geake said elderly residents will be given additional time, and volunteers with Keep Norwalk Beautiful would pitch in to help them, but Witt said that language isn’t in the ordinance.

Geake said there’s a reason for that.

“The lawyer was concerned about putting something in there that would imply unequal treatment because that would risk having the ordinance thrown out of court,” he said.

The passage regarding disabled people concerns Fair Housing Officer Margaret Suib, who wasn’t at the CNNA meeting.

Disabled people are defined in the ordinance by the American Disabilities Act of 1990, which she said is outdated. It also says disabled people who have someone in the household who can do the maintenance will not be exempt from enforcement.

“That doesn’t make sense – you have a disability, you have a disability, regardless of who else might live in the house,” Suib said. “It should be the definition of what’s a disabled individual, so there’s a lot of problems with this.”

She also questions the ordinance’s definition of low income.

“I’ve never seen anything defined in Norwalk by the state of Connecticut’s elderly tax relief,” she said. “Usually we use the HUD (Housing and Urban Development) definition of low-income. I bet that (the state formula) is really low, way lower than HUD’s definition.”

There won’t be a vote on either ordinance after the public hearing, Geake said.

The landlord registration ordinance was drawn so the city can find negligent landlords, Geake said.

“Some of the landlords are very clever and will list their address as the rental property. In some cases the city has taken literally years to get papers served,” he said. “Per diem fines are being accrued, they are into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and they just lapse because they weren’t properly served. The purpose is to actually serve papers on the absentee landlords. Period, the end.”

There may be another ordinance coming, he said.

“We require an appeals board,” he said. “We have discussed having the fair rent commission do double duty as the blight appeals board, sort of like the Zoning Commission handles the aquifer.”

That would negate the problem of coming up with a new board.

“Fair rent already handles legal hearings that get appealed directly to the court,” he said. “They’re all set up and ready to do this. If we brought in seven newbies, we’re asking for trouble.”

Proposed ordinances:

landlord

blight

The blue tarp has been on this house at 181 Fillow St. for years, Margaret Suib said. Other elements of “scary disrepair” include a falling down back porch and vines on the chimney.

NORWALK, Conn. – I think that the mosque issue has tainted the Zoning Commission’s behavior for years to come here in Norwalk. The Zoning Commission is obviously running “scared” and those unfortunate enough to stumble upon its path will suffer the consequences such as we have.

Norwalk taxpaying residents are clearly being “thrown to the wolves,” the wolves being the billionaire out-of-state developers such as Brightview/shelter development. In the past, developers of substance would have walked away, sensing the unwelcome attitude of the community. The commissioners would have then, after receiving significant, valid opposition from neighbors, voted against the developers and in favor of the neighbors, allowing the developers to either walk away or sue;  few ever sued and residents temporarily rested, feeling safe once again from business intrusion.

I would personally never have expected Harry Rilling to have voted  against Brightview at Norwalk, the senior center planned for the Sons of Italy property, not since the scathing remarks recently published by Republican Town Committee Chairman Art Scialabba appeared in the press. After all, Harry  hopes to be a mayoral candidate so he quickly put his tail between his legs and tried to prove Scialabba wrong by voting in favor of this over-sized development.  But  I would never have expected the entire commission vote to be unanimous in its support of Brightview — that presented as a legitimate “red flag” in my eyes (better yet, a hen house full of yellow chickens!). And to have immediately voted without the opposition present was the ultimate act of repugnance !

Norwalk is fast becoming glutinous in that it is now beginning to”eat its own,” so to speak, its own being the residential, taxpaying backbone of this city.  No neighborhood can any longer consider itself safe from their gutless, ravenous behavior. With the likes of special permits that allow intrusions such as  the mosque and public driving ranges and hideous, over-sized businesses such as Brightview in your backyard,  the commission has pretty much all it needs to invade any residential zone.

In answer to what do I think happened? I’m trying desperately not to think evil thoughts and thus submit the previous comments with tongue in cheek, possibly reserving future comments for another time.

Respectfully submitted,

Patricia T. Conlin

NORWALK, Conn. – Oh no!  It’s time for another election! It seems we just finished with the last one, and here’s another crop of politicians, blue ones and red ones, kissing babies and making promises we don’t really believe they can keep. We know it’s the most solemn responsibility we have as citizens to pick the best one, but how can we really tell which one behind all the smoke and mirrors of a political campaign?

One way is to put aside all the political rhetoric and observe the little, day-to-day, unstudied actions of a candidate when the cameras aren’t looking. Here’s a few observations we’ve been able to make about one of the candidates:

Some winters ago, we had new neighbors move in directly across the street from our house here in Norwalk. We hadn’t met them formally yet. We’d had a really big snow — probably 18 inches on the ground. I get up early, pile on the warm clothes and struggle down the driveway to try to find the newspaper and, lo and behold, the new neighbor’s driveway has been plowed by a plowing contractor and half a ton of white stuff has been pushed across the street on to our side, burying our stand of laurel bushes.

In a snit, I cross the street and pound on the new neighbor’s door. I complain firmly to the startled lady who comes to the door that someone better do something about this pronto. Minutes after I grump my way home, I look out the window, and there is Harry Rilling, at the time Chief of Police of my City of Norwalk, shovel in hand, personally digging out my precious laurel bushes. From that point on, our laurel bushes were safe as long as Harry lived across the street. Actually, I think Harry enjoyed the manual labor, and we’ve been “good neighbors” ever since, even though he ultimately moved away.

On another occasion many months later, my wife had driven to one of the neighboring towns for some shopping. While on the Post Road it happened! There, in the rear view mirror, were the dreaded flashing red lights of a police car. What could she have done wrong? She pulled over and rolled down the window. A dour-faced officer walked the walk we see in movies and held out his hand for the registration. Silence while he studied it carefully. A year in the slammer for certain, my wife thought. Timidly, she asked what she’d done wrong. “Your brake lights are out, lady. You should always check them before you drive anywhere.” She did not say it but she wondered, how you do that from the driver’s seat? Later on she told the story to neighbor and Chief of Police Harry, and he said, “I always tell my officers that if they come in to work tired or grumpy or have had a bad night, they should go home, cool down and then come back to work when they can treat their ‘customers’ with respect.” And that is why, he added, “Norwalk police are noted as being the friendliest in the area.”

Just a few weeks ago as we waited in the middle school auditorium for Gov. Malloy to come and speak to the citizens of Norwalk, I stood one seat in from the aisle speaking briefly to former neighbor and no longer Chief of Police Harry Rilling. As we stood there, a man with a little boy aged about six years came up to Harry. The man explained that his young son’s ambition when growing up was to become a minister like his dad or be a member of a SWAT team. Who better to ask about the latter than the former top policeman?

It was quite a sight to see Harry, himself a young grandfather of seven, looking down on the awe-struck boy and gently telling him. I couldn’t quite hear what he was saying, but the sight was so charming, I sidled in closer. What I did hear was the end of the conversation. Harry Rilling was saying to this little six-year-old, “… so whatever you decide, always remember: Do the right thing.”

Mind blowing? No, of course not. But it gave me a little insight into Harry — not as a politician, but as a man. That meant almost as much to me as the rhetoric that would come later from all the candidates, including from this man who already has an unparalleled public record of achievements and leadership.

Icing on the cake, if you will.

Rod Lopez-Fabrega