Dick Brescia replaces Bryan Meek on Parking Authority

NORWALK, Conn. – With parking issues high on the list of what some people claim ails Norwalk’s commercial centers, Mayor Harry Rilling and the Common Council shifted gears Tuesday night, naming Dick Brescia to replace Bryan Meek as a member of the Norwalk Parking Authority.

The vote to appoint Brescia was unanimous.

Brescia, president of Dick Brescia Associates – specializing in radio syndication, management consulting, TV sports production and retail product development – was roundly praised by Rilling, who said it is time for a “new vision” for the Authority.

“He is highly organized,” Rilling said. “He’s got a tremendous history of organizational development. He’s ready to hit the ground running and I think he’s going to run the Parking Authority as a business, but with a view towards making everything user friendly and making it easier for people to come into Norwalk and know what our parking regulations are to kind of standardize them and make sure that we’ve got the best parking regulations that we can have.

“Bryan Meek served the Parking Authority well,” he said. “I just felt it was time for a new vision.”

Council President Doug Hempstead (R-At Large) showered praise on Meek, a fellow Republican.

“I know Mr. Brescia. I am sure he is going to do a fine job,” Hempstead said. “I just personally want to thank Bryan Meek for the job he did. I know Bryan can be a little outspoken from time to time, but that’s Bryan. But I also know Bryan had a charge to keep that Parking Authority … to make sure that it ran at not a deficit, but as close to making a profit as he could. I know that he was really dedicated and really well informed. I think as chairperson he did a very good job.”

According to his resume, Brescia syndicated radio programming for CBS News icon Walter Cronkite, film critic Leonard Maltin, satirist Stan Freberg, humorist Tom Bodett and sportscaster Jack Buck. Among his other career highlights, he helped the NFL establish the European Football League, worked on broadcast issues with Major League Baseball, helped the Big East Conference establish its radio network. He also spent 20 years at CBS in senior management positions.

The University of Connecticut graduate lives with his wife, Patsy – a former council member and current Board of Directors chairwoman of the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum – in Norwalk. They have three grown children in Washington, D.C., Boston and New York.