By Rod Lopez-Fabrega
NORWALK, Conn. – Oh no! It’s time for another election! It seems we just finished with the last one, and here’s another crop of politicians, blue ones and red ones, kissing babies and making promises we don’t really believe they can keep. We know it’s the most solemn responsibility we have as citizens to pick the best one, but how can we really tell which one behind all the smoke and mirrors of a political campaign?
One way is to put aside all the political rhetoric and observe the little, day-to-day, unstudied actions of a candidate when the cameras aren’t looking. Here’s a few observations we’ve been able to make about one of the candidates:
Some winters ago, we had new neighbors move in directly across the street from our house here in Norwalk. We hadn’t met them formally yet. We’d had a really big snow — probably 18 inches on the ground. I get up early, pile on the warm clothes and struggle down the driveway to try to find the newspaper and, lo and behold, the new neighbor’s driveway has been plowed by a plowing contractor and half a ton of white stuff has been pushed across the street on to our side, burying our stand of laurel bushes.
In a snit, I cross the street and pound on the new neighbor’s door. I complain firmly to the startled lady who comes to the door that someone better do something about this pronto. Minutes after I grump my way home, I look out the window, and there is Harry Rilling, at the time Chief of Police of my City of Norwalk, shovel in hand, personally digging out my precious laurel bushes. From that point on, our laurel bushes were safe as long as Harry lived across the street. Actually, I think Harry enjoyed the manual labor, and we’ve been “good neighbors” ever since, even though he ultimately moved away.
On another occasion many months later, my wife had driven to one of the neighboring towns for some shopping. While on the Post Road it happened! There, in the rear view mirror, were the dreaded flashing red lights of a police car. What could she have done wrong? She pulled over and rolled down the window. A dour-faced officer walked the walk we see in movies and held out his hand for the registration. Silence while he studied it carefully. A year in the slammer for certain, my wife thought. Timidly, she asked what she’d done wrong. “Your brake lights are out, lady. You should always check them before you drive anywhere.” She did not say it but she wondered, how you do that from the driver’s seat? Later on she told the story to neighbor and Chief of Police Harry, and he said, “I always tell my officers that if they come in to work tired or grumpy or have had a bad night, they should go home, cool down and then come back to work when they can treat their ‘customers’ with respect.” And that is why, he added, “Norwalk police are noted as being the friendliest in the area.”
Just a few weeks ago as we waited in the middle school auditorium for Gov. Malloy to come and speak to the citizens of Norwalk, I stood one seat in from the aisle speaking briefly to former neighbor and no longer Chief of Police Harry Rilling. As we stood there, a man with a little boy aged about six years came up to Harry. The man explained that his young son’s ambition when growing up was to become a minister like his dad or be a member of a SWAT team. Who better to ask about the latter than the former top policeman?
It was quite a sight to see Harry, himself a young grandfather of seven, looking down on the awe-struck boy and gently telling him. I couldn’t quite hear what he was saying, but the sight was so charming, I sidled in closer. What I did hear was the end of the conversation. Harry Rilling was saying to this little six-year-old, “… so whatever you decide, always remember: Do the right thing.”
Mind blowing? No, of course not. But it gave me a little insight into Harry — not as a politician, but as a man. That meant almost as much to me as the rhetoric that would come later from all the candidates, including from this man who already has an unparalleled public record of achievements and leadership.
Icing on the cake, if you will.
Rod Lopez-Fabrega
Leave a Reply
You must Register or Login to post a comment.