NORWALK, Conn. – A Norwalk councilman said he was “derisively mocked” by another Norwalk councilman Tuesday evening.
Towards the end of a discussion about sidewalks at the Public Works Committee, Councilman David Watts (D-District A) imitated Councilman David McCarthy (R-District E) in an exaggerated way, as shown in the video above. Some committee members laughed. McCarthy said, “That’s your definition of civility, that you’re going to suddenly make fun of me?”
“I’m not making fun of you man,” Watts replied. “We like to make jokes. We’re having a good time.”
McCarthy asked to comment about it after the meeting.
“I’m sorry I don’t make fun of people, and do that, like a circus clown. That’s unacceptable, if we can’t have basic respect for people,” he said. “At his worst, I don’t know if you were here for the garbage outsourcing things, I never made fun of him. I had to hammer my fist on the table to get him to even stop talking but I didn’t make fun of him and I don’t ever make comments about his appearance or anything else.”
The “derisive mocking” came about 10 minutes after McCarthy interrupted Watts while he was pressing on a sidewalk issue.
A resident had complained – much of the sidewalk on the road had been replaced as part of a road paving job, but not the sidewalk in front of the resident’s house – and Watts asked Department of Public Works Director Hal Alvord what was the genesis of the problem.
Alvord explained that there was a financial limitation to how many sidewalks can be repaired, that it would cost $91 million to do all 140 miles of sidewalk in Norwalk, that the $350,000 for sidewalk repair in this year’s budget was gone. The other sidewalks had issues and needed to be repaired, but not the sidewalk in question.
“This is unbelievable,” Watts said. The situation is “not right,” he said, and began to describe the resident’s story when McCarthy interrupted him.
“Rather than testifying, Mr. Alvord just gave you an answer,” McCarthy said.
“He is a grown man,” Watts replied.
“If you have another question or disagreement that is fine but if you are trying to make the mayor’s policy or city … save that and write a letter, ” McCarthy said.
“You shouldn’t attack the mayor,” Watts said. “He is not here today. I don’t work for the mayor. The mayor is not here to defend himself and I am not here to defend the mayor.”
McCarthy suggested Watts say something constructive.
“We have been trying to address the sidewalk problem since the beginning of the council,” Watts said. “We get into these urban/suburban debates … That gets back to why we are here on public works. For me, we spin our wheels on how we deal with sidewalks.”
Councilman Bruce Kimmel (D-At Large) stepped in to ask questions and support the idea that the sidewalks need work. “You’ve got to admit sometimes these arguments we do feel like we are spinning our wheels,” he said, eventually.
After 10 minutes there was the moment captured above.
“You want to repeat that?” McCarthy said to Watts.
“I don’t know what that was,” Watts said, referring to something McCarthy said. “We’re not making fun of you,” Watts said.
“I’m not laughing if you don’t notice,” McCarthy said.
After the meeting, McCarthy described his inaudible comment as, “I said OK, lets’ move on and he turns and mocks me. Let’s turn that around and say I had done that to him. He would be standing in front of my house with 20 other people. I didn’t project, I’ll give him that one. If I was saying something derogative in any way.”
Watts listens to Alvord “and says opposite things,” McCarthy said.
“I get that the (complaining resident) thinks it is arbitrary, and sometimes you get someone who is only looking out their front door and I can understand that, but for a member of this council to not listen to facts, or be presented with facts and still just yell and scream, and thinking that that’s changing something,” McCarthy said. “He has done precisely zero to do something about sidewalks in this council other than yell and say we should replace every sidewalk in the city.”
Watts spoke in an even tone throughout and did not raise his voice, as shown in the video below.
Norwalk’s sidewalk ordinance mirrors that of every city in Connecticut, McCarthy said. Kimmel has spent researching the issue, McCarthy said. “He didn’t make fun of anybody, call anybody names or throw up his hands and do that,” he said.
“I am not seeing any work being done. That’s why I stopped him. I see a lot of testifying. I don’t see even a reasonable suggestion,” McCarthy said. “… Screaming at a committee meeting is not the way to effect change. I have seen this with other staff members – Hal can handle himself – but with staff that I consider to have been in a hostile work environment because of the way they are treated by elected and appointed officials. That is not appropriate.”
Watts declined to respond to McCarthy’s remarks.
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