Seen and heard in Norwalk: Mayoral levity

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

Party crasher

Mayor Richard Moccia got a hearty laugh when he interrupted Common Councilman David Watts (D-District A) recently at the Norwalk Police Commission.

Watts, who was explaining why he had to leave said, “I’m hosting Democratic candidates for mayor in my district –”

Moccia asked, “Can I come?”

“Yeah, sure,” Watts said. “You can come. All your opponents will be there.”

(Moccia didn’t go.)

Signs of a primary

A moment of levity ensued at Watts’ District A Democrats meeting, where three of four mayoral candidates took the time to introduce themselves to active members of their party.

District D Chairman Vinny Mangiacopra handed out Mangiacopra for Mayor signs to anyone who would take one. That included Councilman Matt Miklave, himself a candidate for mayor.

Mangiacopra suggested Miklave could put it in his yard. Miklave replied, “No thanks – I may have been born at night but it wasn’t last night.”

Just her opinion

Diane Lauricella was one of only three people to address the Board of Estimate and Taxation at the recent poorly attended public hearing on the city’s operating budget. She may not have improved her standing with Moccia when she said, “I think we need to reduce the legal costs. For instance, I do not think it is proper for us to spend corporation counsel time, just my opinion, pursuing frivolous suits or potential suits, such as we saw with a reporter recently.”

Time for penny pinching

Lauricella continued by criticizing the tax collection sale and other expenditures, saying:

• “The time has come for us to actually have recycling across the board in schools. It is not being done and it will reduce their trash hauling costs.”

• “We could reduce the amount of paper and ink used across the board in every department. I and Peter Libre and others have brought this up to you over the years. Currently, just the Common Council (packets) alone, stuffed with one-sided paper. That wastes money, it costs money. We the citizens are making our own budgeting reductions, we want for a change, for this city to do the same.”

• “Phantom electricity is the electricity that is still remaining on the monitors and on all our equipment. There should be an across-the-board effort to cut phantom electricity because that would reduce the amount of electricity that we pay for.”

ECS kudos

Board of Education Chairman Mike Lyons vented about the uncertainties of the state’s revamped ECS (Educational Cost Sharing) formula at the recent Board of Estimate and Taxation meeting, then gave a nod to state Rep. Gail Lavielle (R-Wilton), saying, “I gotta say, the most dependable supporter of the Norwalk school system in the state legislature lives in Wilton.”

He’ll be here all week, folks

Moccia commented that “There’s a lot more cooperation, a lot more looking at the numbers, how we can work together instead of against each other” between the Board of Education and the mayor’s office this year.  “Mike (Lyons), I did come up with one more proposal to save money. I’m recommending that we cut the salary for all the Board of Ed members.”

Said Lyons: “Half of nothing is still nothing.”