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The Golden Rule sails again!
On January 7th 1945, the last V2 rocket to fall on London in World War II fell in our street. I was only eight years old but there are things one does not forget, the noise, the smoke, the dust, the smell, the cries and the blood. On September 11th, 2001, when the World Trade Center […]
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Norwalk needs proportional representation for all parties
It’s interesting that the Charter Revision Commission hasn’t opened the database of public suggestions and comments. Likely because if they did, they’d show just how many of them they ignore. To be sure, most of these suggestions are going to be inane, wrongheaded, self-centered, and misguided. To quote Tommy Lee Jones from Men In Black,…
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Remembering Norwalk residents who died during wartime service
Every year when the calendar flips to May, I think about how the month will end. The unofficial start to the summer season and the month with a revered holiday, Memorial Day, will be celebrated again in the country. How does the country “celebrate”? Should the country “celebrate”? Maybe, observing or commemorating Memorial Day, is…
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Memorial Day memories
On the day before Memorial Day 75 years ago, the dedication ceremony for Richard Kemper Memorial Park took place at Mamaroneck High School in Mamaroneck, N.Y. Richard Kemper, a former MHS student and my uncle, was killed on Aug. 6, 1944, exactly two months after D-Day in the Battle of the Hedgerows, the effort to…
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People for a Peaceful Tomorrow invites us to envision and work for peace
For the last 15 years, members of the Wilton Quaker Meeting, Veterans for Peace, World Beyond War and other like-minded folks have marched as the last group in the Memorial Day parade. We honor the war dead by recommitting ourselves to working for peace. We advocate for a greater emphasis on diplomatic and non-violent solutions…
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Mayoral campaign contributions raise questions
Harry Rilling’s Mayoral campaign (Friends of Rilling) raised $102,900 through March in preparation for this November’s municipal elections….Putting Friends of Rilling’s SEEC Form 20 under a microscope prompts questions plus provokes significant concerns.
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Planning and Zoning Updates- Coming to a Norwalk neighborhood near you!
If you have attended the City meetings regarding Planning and Zoning you are likely feeling upset, disappointed and confused about the direction of Norwalk and what your neighborhood could look like given the proposed updates/changes. These Planning and Zoning proposals will have profound effects on our community, taxpayers and residents. I have pointed out before…
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Memorial Day context: Norwalk’s population growth spurt history
There has been no shortage of conversations had recently about our population growth as well as the number and size of apartment developments (both in favor and against) being built in the City of Norwalk. With Memorial Day approaching, I thought it might be appropriate to provide some observations about the population growth spurt that…
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Tracking affordability under 8-30g’s 4 categories is unworkable
The 8-30g statute (Connecticut’s failed Affordable Housing “builders remedy” law) allows a developer to override local zoning of height, density, and setbacks on any property if they provide 30% affordable 40-year deed restricted units. While the goal of the bill is laudable, there are too many shortcomings including the inability of most towns to ever…
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April Is Autism ‘Acceptance’ Month
(Autism ‘Acceptance’ v. ‘Awareness’) April has widely been known as “Autism Awareness Month” in the United States. This was seen as a way to empower autistic individuals and their families. This was used as a method of highlighting what “autism” is and how people with it are impacted (in other words, how they are “different”).…
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Norwalk. A love story for developers.
I do not live in East Norwalk but as a resident of Norwalk, East Norwalk is a unique and charming crown jewel and the gateway to a gorgeous waterfront community where Norwalkers live, work, walk, shop and eat. Everyone visits East Norwalk and this area of Norwalk belongs to all of us in a special…
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Lawns shouldn’t take our breath away
But Norwalk will not truly be pesticide free until residents stop using toxic chemicals in their own yards. The pesticide free movement is encouraging residents to go pesticide free one lawn at a time.
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Charter Revision in Norwalk, your neighborhoods future in the fate of the unelected and appointed friends of the Mayor
Definition: Democracy; a way of governing which depends on the will of the people. On November 7, 2023 Norwalk residents will have the opportunity to vote in favor or against the adoption of the proposed new city charter should the council move it forward. Public input has begun but this task should not simply be…
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Charter Revision: Professional leadership & proportional representation would bring check & balance, so why isn’t this the focus?
Updating a 100-year-old document is tedious. Until last month, the Charter Revision Commission’s minutes and zoom videos reflected discussion mainly around updating archaic language and outdated processes or positions. It’s vital the charter is made easier to read, so the public understands the structure and rules under which Norwalk’s government currently operates. Many involved in the…
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Joint Favorable Reports: Works of fiction or unbiased ways to understand bills?
The “Joint Favorable Report” (JF) is a critical legislative document that is ideally a dispassionate, unbiased summary account of the oral and written testimony of any bill that receives a public hearing and moves to the floor. It is the historical legislative record of a bill that lives on and is often relied upon by…
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Zoning and historic resources
Two recent decisions of the Planning and Zoning Commission to approve projects affecting Norwalk’s historic resources did not fulfill their obligation to protect those resources under Chapter 6 of the Norwalk Citywide Plan: 2019-2029. The Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD): Goal 1. Norwalk protects its most important historic resources and encourages adaptive reuse of historic sites…
