Norwalk Dem debate: Who will be No. 2?

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6 responses to “Norwalk Dem debate: Who will be No. 2?”

1. KSully

   June 27, 2013

   So to recap —

   1) Matt Miklave would hire and expert in finding efficiencies, reducing spending, keeping taxes in check and protecting critical services.

   2) Harry Rilling would hire someone from his “Good Ole Boy” network.

   3) Vinny Mangiacopra would hire someone who would replace Norwalk’s existing elected delegation to the Connecticut House of Representative and the State Senate.

   4) Andy Garfunkel would hire someone to seek grants.

   Matt Miklave is heads & shoulders above his fellow Democrats. He has the intellect, the business experience, the government experience and he’s not beholden to anyone.

   As we get closer to the nomination process and the primary, it’s critical we start asking ourselves critical questions like, who has the best plan for Norwalk? Who has articulated that plan in detail? Which candidate has capacity and the courage to restructure city government and reform our budget process? Anyone who answers these questions honestly will only come to one conclusion. Matt Miklave.

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2. BSmith

   June 27, 2013

   KSully should have mentioned that Miklave has as his Treasurer the NASA Union president. Not beholden to anyone maybe, but his sympathies are clear.

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3. LWitherspoon

   June 27, 2013

   @KSully
   Matt Miklave has not articulated any plan in detail. I wish you would stop repeating this falsehood ad nauseum, it’s getting a bit tiring.
   .
   What Matt Miklave has said is let’s look at the City budget closely and see what savings we can find. But with ten years on the Common Council Miklave should already know what’s in the budget and what savings can be found. If Miklave wants us to believe he’s a fiscal conservative, perhaps he could point to any of his own initiatives while on Council that saved money for taxpayers.
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   Incidentally, Miklave voted against the recent plan to outsource garbage collection, aimed at saving taxpayers $1+ million per year. The plan passed anyway. If elected, will Mr. Miklave exercise the “termination for convenience” clause in the contract? If so, how will he replace the savings? We are eagerly awaiting his detailed plan.

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4. Tim T

   June 28, 2013

   LWitherspoon
   You state
   I wish you would stop repeating this falsehood ad nauseum, it’s getting a bit tiring.
   Funny you would say that as it seems that’s what you do in your never ending defense of the current administration and your posting of propaganda about the democrats.

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5. Don’t Panic

   June 28, 2013

   Mr. Miklave has clearly thought deeply about a new approach to governing Norwalk. Everyone wants to do something “different”, but by tackling the inefficiencies in the budget, Mr. Miklave has also created a roadmap to actually pay for implementing the kinds of change the citizens of Norwalk are asking for.

   More importantly, the act of applying priorities to all of the budget, we stand to make better decisions about what we will cut in order to pay for things we really want. This approach might well have prevented us from heading down the path of privatization that so divided the city, or closing of the Norwalk museum.

   Mr. Miklave’s approach stands in stark contrast with the approach followed for years now in Norwalk.

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6. Suzanne

   June 28, 2013

   Mr. Miklave’s approach implies more of an applied efficient business model than a disorganized and inefficient bureaucracy. In addition, his is a data-based approach using IT to the City of Norwalk’s advantage. You cannot know where you are going unless you know where you have been: a City is a complicated entity but everyone still needs to be on the same page. Using database management to achieve that goal is what businesses that are successful do and what makes sense. Having endless meetings or a “presence” in Hartford, while this might be valuable in some ways, does not get down to the nuts and bolts of reporting and analysis. It is clear Mr. Miklave has the experience to do that and articulates this clearly and completely. I am not sure who L. Witherspoon is listening to or reading about but I am hearing all of the candidates just like L. Witherspoon is and this is what I am drawing from it.

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