Seen and Heard in Norwalk: A tweak, a Ty and a Twilight Zone-like similarity

NORWALK, Conn. – Here are some items of interest that were seen or heard recently in Norwalk:

No bill for beach music

The weather was great and so was the music – last Saturday evening at Calf Pasture Beach was made much more pleasant by the Third Taxing District’s 100th anniversary event, Power on the Sound.

Besides getting “The. Best. Cuban. Ever.” from Ripka’s at the Beach, the songs sung by The Suit, Ty and Thurrsty accompanied the mild, gentle breeze as children ran by.

The singer paused between songs to offer this comment:

“I don’t live anywhere near close to here, but I’ve got to tell you, my electric company never did anything like to this. I don’t know what you’ve got going here but all I ever get is a bill.”

Tweaking Thomas Hamilton

Democratic Registrar Stuart Wells has a Post-It note on the back of his computer monitor with an odd message: “Yes it was a present,” the note reads. “Hamilton would never allow it in his budget.”

Wells said his maximum size monitor mimicked one he had at home, and is much bigger than the standard issue City Hall equipment. He opens a lot of windows while he is working, he said. He looks at spreadsheets, and with the big monitor he can see the entire thing at once.

So someone bought it for him. Finance Director Thomas Hamilton would never authorize it, he said – well, maybe he would, he said.

“Just a little tweak,” he said. “Not that he ever comes down here.”

Norwalk is New Haven, New Haven is Norwalk

A story in The Courant this week included this phrase, “Politics in New Haven has been compared to Beirut, complete with warring factions, shifting coalitions, splintered alliances and surprising developments.”

Oh really?

The headline was “Feisty New Haven Mayor’s Race Full Of Twists, Turns.”

It’s a five way race for the Democratic crown in New Haven – sound familiar? All of the candidates are vying to be the one to replace long-time Democratic Mayor John DeStefano, who just kept winning two-year terms.

Of course, there’s going to be a primary. The Dems in this case endorsed a candidate, state Sen. Toni Harp, but she’s out there collecting signatures, too – a little disorganization at the Democratic Town Committee caused a problem. “None of the local Democrats submitted the proper paperwork on time,” the story said.

Then there’s the line that sounds suspiciously like things said by Norwalk Democrats Matt Miklave and Andy Garfunkel.

“Harp’s opponents say the real battle is the primary because the views of the Democratic Town Committee — with only 60 members — are not representative of a city with more than 48,000 registered Democrats,” the story says.

Hey, New Haven also needed a new schools superintendent this year. The president of Yale University also left.

Anybody talk to Norwalk Community College President David Levinson lately?