Letter: New mayor brings fresh approach to City Hall

By Rod Lopez-Fabrega

To the Editor:

For whatever it is worth, on Monday I attended Mayor Rilling’s first State of the City address, marking his first 100 days in office. It might be useful to point out initial reactions and first impressions — at least from the point-of-view of a supporter of the mayor’s candidacy.

The mayor outlined a number of initiatives already in effect as well as a list of “to do” items to fulfill campaign promises made. I will not attempt to list them here as N.O.N. has given a full and accurate accounting.

Everything that was said and the breezy and assured manner in which it was said left me with the strong impression that the mayor has opened all the windows in City Hall to let in a great gust of fresh air. It is clear that he has taken steps to begin to get the house in order by strongly guaranteeing civility and accessibility to citizens and visitors to Norwalk’s City Hall.

As just one example, he has introduced these qualities within the workings of City Hall through the three special meetings for Council members already held and more to come on a monthly basis. He pointed out that in the past, Council members with offices just paces away from each other never talked to each other. They now are brought together in a room where ideas and recommendations and disputes can be aired face to face in more measured, productive and less quarrelsome exchanges than have been reported happened frequently in Council chamber discords.

He has opened up another window for the public with his “Mayor’s Night Out” meetings already held in half a dozen neighborhoods. In these, the general public can ask questions, air complaints, etc. directly to him and to other directors. These have been well attended and outstandingly well received by attendees, and they will continue.

As for items on the list that really affect the citizens on a daily basis, of special interest to Norwalk’s besieged property owners was the mayor’s declaration that the re-evaluation of properties has shifted the burden from residential to commercial  — not enough, but working on it. Then — hold the presses — the mayor has promised to speed up the process of fixing this year’s killer potholes and broken sidewalks.

All in all, my reaction is that the State of the City looks positive and the prospects for the near future much better than they have been. Barring future catastrophes, we can rest assured for now that we have a good man on the job.

Rod Lopez-Fabrega