The Democratic Committee Assignment Proposal

To clarify what was asked for and who signed the letter:

To the Editor:


The voters of Norwalk have just elected five Democrats to the 15-member Common Council. To respect the will of the voters, the makeup of the council committees must reflect this proportionality. This means two Democrats and four Republicans need to be assigned to each committee. 

If the majority party decides to add a seventh member to a committee, then that additional committee member should be a Democrat. The balance needs to remain 2:1 to respect the will of the Norwalk voters. 

Additionally, the minority caucus organizes itself and appoints its own members to the committees. 

These members are: 

Health, Welfare and Public Safety: David Jaegar and Travis Simms. 

Public Works: Laurel Lindstrom and Nora King.

Personnel: Carvin Hilliard and Travis Simms.

Finance: Nora King and David Jaegar.

Land Use & Building Management: Nora King and David Jaegar.

Ordinance: Carvin Hilliard and Laurel Lindstrom (Travis Simms if a seventh member is added).

Planning: Laurel Lindstrom and Carvin Hilliard (Nora King if a sevent member is added).

Recreation & Parks: Laurel Lindstrom and Travis Simms (David Jaegar if a seventh member is added).

Maritime Authority: Travis Simms.

Norwalk Facilities Construction Commission: David Jaegar.

Water Pollution Control Authority: Laurel Lindstrom

Historical Commission: Nora King in year two.

The Minority Leader will be Laurel Lindstrom.

The current council with a majority of Democrats gave two committee chairmanships to Republicans. Therefore, the same number of chairmanships needs to be given to the newly elected minority Democrats. 

The proposed chairs are Carvin Hilliard for the Personnel Committee and Nora King for the Finance Committee.

Signed By:

Council members elect: Carvin Hilliard, David Jaegar, Nora King, Laurel Lindstrom, Travis Simms.

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  • NorwalkSpectator

    I just printed out the Letter to the Editor from yesterday’s (Sunday) Hour. The only name that appears at the end is that of Laurel Lindstrom. Interesting, no?

    • turfgrrl

      Norwalk Spectator: Look right above that.

      • NorwalkSpectator

        Not arguing here, Turfie, but when I read it, I thought Laurel Lindstrom was just listing who the new Democratic Council Members were. There was nothing to indicate to me that the list was a closing. There was no “Sincerely yours”, or “Laurel Lindstrom on behalf of…” or even “Laurel Lindstrom, Democratic Minority Leader”. It just says “Laurel Lindstrom, Norwalk”
        I stand corrected but can you blame me for misunderstanding?

        • turfgrrl

          NorwalkSpectator: Yeah it is totally unclear in the Hour, but I confirmed it with two sources. It does yet again point out that it is difficult for issues to get discussed and presented to the public. I’m hoping to add a way for our Common Council to engage more with people by communicating more here. Some of the things I’ve been asked; could political personages post directly here as a top thread, could I interview everyone, could I send them questions and they can respond via email, can I video interviews with them. These are all good things to do. I’m toying with how to do all of them.

          • NorwalkSpectator

            I figured you had resources to check that out. Thanks for clearing it up. At least the people who read this thread will have a better understanding of what the letter actually said.

            Before the election, various candidates were posting here and I thought that was good. It gave people the chance to ask questions and get responses and other people could read the information, too.

  • http://www.brainflation.com Jon Searles

    Perhaps things are different in Norwalk, but doesn’t minority representation law demand that at least 1/3rd of the committee membership be minority parties already?

  • NorwalkSpectator

    I believe State Law does require this, but what mystifies me is why this issue is being handled through Letters to the Editor rather than having the minority leader contact the majority leader. The fact that it was handled this way in my mind means that the Democrats are expecting the Republicans to violate the law. Either that, or they aren’t familiar with the miniority rule. It’s also very disrespectful in terms of not apparently not even giving the Republican Council members a chance before throwing down the gauntlet. But hey, the Democratic caucus chose Lindstrom to represent them, so I guess all the issues will be handled via Letters to the Editor rather than through the established protocols. It’s gonna be interesting.

    • Secondhand Rose

      If you ask me, it was done this way with a “we put it out in public so you can’t do any backroom deals and ignore us” sort of attitude.

      Frankly, I think it was a crass move, and my opinion of Laurel Lindstrom has now dropped about 20 points….

  • Dem in the Know

    there was a formation meeting held at gail wall’s house headed by our five democrats under the guidance of mayor alex knopplast week. This is where they selected the committee’s and ecided the strategy that they are unveiling this week. Several of the participants are talking about it with us party regulars and district chairs.

    • marg5150

      Sorry but I personally know of two democrats from District B who DID NOT attend the meeting at Gail’s house. And they decided at a meeting held in caucus chambers what committee’s they would be asking for. Because if there was some kind of meeting it was done without advising each district of their (Gail & Alex’s) intentions. Just for the record.

  • Joanne

    Just as a side note, all council members have functional e-mail addresses where we welcome input from the community. Personally, I have a blog on my website where I welcome commments, concerns and other input. You will find e-mail addresses posted on the city website when we are sworn into office which takes place tomorrow night, November 17th at 8pm.

    • turfgrrl

      Joanne: Unless they are city email addresses, they would not be FOI-able and therefore should not be used for council business. I think this is the year to fix that, if it hasn’t been.

      • http://www.MGeake.org MGeake

        I tried to fix that two years ago when I was assigned a city e-mail address that could not receive outside mail — the reply from the city’s IT staff was they didn’t want to have to deal with SPAM (even though that e-mail was just a forward to my personal one).

        In two years, I never received an e-mail at that address.

  • NorwalkSpectator

    So, Alex is still calling the shots. How interesting. Also makes me wonder if that would be considered an illegal meeting. Any FOI experts out there?

    • turfgrrl

      NorwalkSpectator: I’ve got a different take. Alex Knopp is fighting for relevance. Since 2005 he has “advised” Dems on a variety of issues and political strategies. Each one has been a loser. Yet he is a former state rep and mayor. So if you’re a Dem you can’t just ignore the guy. He’s sort of got history. Yet most Dems that have lived in Norwalk long enough should remember that Alex never believed in the Democratic party. He wasn’t involved in the DTC when he was in office, forbade his council members from being on the DTC and refused appointments to boards and commissions recommended to him by his DTC. I don’t know why current council members don’t remember this. One of them was on fact prevented from appointments because of him. In the absence of any real and successful political leadership Alex steps into the vacuum. When Dems start being advocates of Norwalk instead of reliving the Knopp years they might find relevance with Norwalk voters.

  • Democrat

    Laurel’s letter was a public request for the same “bipartisan” courtesy that the Democrats extened to Republicans when they were in the majority. That means giving at least 2 council chairmanships to the Democrats. What do you think will happen?

    I love all these “conspiracy” theories about Alex calling the shots. His opinion is valued by smart Dems but there is no one person calling the shots. Remember, we are the party of diversity, despite what you read from failed incumbents who didn’t listen to anyone about their campaigns.

    • NorwalkSpectator

      I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I was commenting on “Dem in the Know” statement that there was a meeting at Gail Wall’s house with the five Council Members. After I posted my comments, Marg5150 said that the two District B Democrats didn’t show at that meeting and that the committee assignments were made in the caucus room. I wasn’t at either place. Who to believe, Dem in the Know or Marg5150, is solely your choice.

      And I actually haven’t heard from any failed incumbents about their campaigns, but I have heard some Democrats commenting that Alex was running the show. That didn’t come out of my mouth, it came out of theirs. I didn’t ask for their comments, or even mention Alex’s name.

      • Secondhand Rose

        I have to agree with Norwalk Spectator. I have several friends on both sides of the fence and I hear a lot of things through the grapevine. And Knopp being puppetmaster is one of the things I’ve been hearing consistently since his ouster from the mayor’s office, and specifically hearing it from Democrats.

  • OLD TIMER

    TG
    Do you think the “signed by” was left out of the letter by the hour on purpose as a favor for someone ? The hour made it look like it was a letter strictly from Lindstrom. Should be easy enough to ask her. It would be interesting to ask the hour.

  • OLD TIMER

    DEMOCRAT:
    STEVE SERASIS would have won handily, if the Democrats had made any real effort to turn out voters, especially in South Norwalk. Once again, we got outsmarted when the Republican did not run an opposition slate in SoNo. He worked very hard, trying to reach the voters and Moccia kept his head down and got his picture in the paper, cutting ribbons, and coasted to an easy win. Next time around, Moccia will brag about how he held the line on taxes, and his followers will make noise about tax and spend democrats. The police dept will shrink further, crime will be an issue. We get what we pay for.

  • I want answers

    We Dems need focused, strong & fresh leadership to right this ship. There is one or two people I believe can provide this leadership. Why isn’t anyone talking about them as potential leaders instead of the same old same old? I WANT ANSWERS!

  • OLD TIMER

    You know of two real leaders who are democrats? and have a city-wide following ? One of them should have been nominated. I think Steve was a good choice, but he needed a lot of support, all over town, that he did not get. Not enough people knew him and Moccia carefully avoided giving him an issue to build a campaign on. The only issue he had was crime, and that should have gotten him some real attention in the neighborhoods that are most affected, but the leadership there did not get behind his campaign.
    The proposed operating budget for the police dept. shows the City has no intention of filling the 182 authorised slots and expect to try for a total 175 cops, with 115 approved for the patrol division and that is where the shortfall will be. They are counting on 107 cops handling 650 calls for service each, for a total of 70,000 calls with 3700 criminal arrests, and 6900 summonses issued. With scheduled days off, vacations, and sick time, that results in a very small number of cops out on the street at any one time for that much work. Not all are assigned to patrol the streets. They run four shifts now, with the fourth overlapping the first and third so it will look like they have enough help in the busiest hours. They do an incredible job now, with the manpower we give them, but they need more people, in my opinion..

  • turfgrrl

    Old Timer: As a sitting council member for two years, Serasis should have been more than familiar with issues that a campaign could be built on. None were put forth. I disagree with you about crime being an issue.

    Your points about patrol levels and workload are certainly issues. Yet were not raised at all during the campaign, and deserve to be discussed before we get into budgets.

    A real leader would identify a perceived problem and then address an alternative to what is currently being proposed (if anything) to address it. But it seems that Democratic leadership thinking is that issues are discussed via osmosis.

  • Secondhand Rose

    “Crime” was only an issue because The Hour’s reporters chose to make it one. It’s interesting to note that as soon as the election was over with, the perps who committed the shakedown of the student walking home from school, as well as other perps who have been arrrested for various robberies around town, were arrested. Coincidence? I think not.

  • I Remember

    to Democrat #16
    “a public request for the same “bipartisan” courtesy that the Democrats extended to Republicans when they were in the majority.”
    This is a joke, especially coming from Laurel Lindstrom. She voted against giving those chairmanships to the Republicans and don’t think the Repubs are forgetting it. Wake up and smell the coffee… the Dems have been losing ground steadily since 2005… and Alex is enjoying every minute of it.

    • NorwalkSpectator

      Not arguing here, but simply curious as to why you think Alex might be enjoying the struggles that the Democrat party is going through, particular since he seems to be a key player.

  • OLD TIMER

    T.G.
    I am not arguing there were no other issues that could have been exploited in the campaign, including a few things Moccia said that were just not true, and nobody called him on the facts. I think Serasis was sincerely trying to avoid personal attacks and needed a lot more help than he got in planning a campaign.
    Crime is always an issue in neighborhoods where gunfire is not unusual and could have been made a bigger issue than it was, but Moccia quoted old statistics to prove crime generally is declining, and Serasis did not have access to recent, more accurate, data to counter that argument. He needed a much bigger, better organised, team. He could have used the arguments made to support buying that system to help locate gunfire very effectively, but nobody dug it out and focused it for him.

    • turfgrrl

      Old Timer: Your comments is the equivalent of the “dog ate my homework” excuse. No one helped Serasis? Serasis could have chosen to do his own “homework” but didn’t. Not even when he was on the council. He needed a bigger organized team? How about he didn’t have the support of anyone who knew how to run a campaign because the current DTC leadership had chosen to ignore and ostracize those that did? How about that most registered Democratic voters do not support the current DTC? Why didn’t they run Bill Krummel?

  • OLD TIMER

    My Homework ? I wasn’t running for anything. I don’t need excuses. I don’t even have a dog. My comments are my thoughts about why Steve’s campaign wasn’t more successful. There is no intent to make excuses for anybody. I think he would have done much better if he had become the candidate earlier and if he had been able to get the DTC’s full support. I don’t know how that worked out. I don’t know why they didn’t run Bill Krummel. I suspect they were looking for a younger image to appeal to younger voters. I don’t know anything about the workings of the DTC, or why the party generally does not seem well organised. Your party certainly has been better organised and has the victories to prove it. Maybe I should get a dog.

    • turfgrrl

      Old Timer: No not your homework, the reasons you listed for why Serasis didn’t turn out the vote … then again a dog doesn’t do it justice. My take on the Republican victories have less to do with better organization and more to do with the –out of touch, shoot the messenger, insert head into the sand– style of party organization of the Norwalk Democratic party. It wasn’t the Republicans calling up registered Democratic voters and telling them to stay home, it was Democrats calling up registered Democratic voters and giving them zero reason to get out and vote. A 20% turnout for registered Democrats says it all.

  • OLD TIMER

    You do understand we are pretty much saying the same thing, but not in exactly the same way. The Dems lost because they did not run a good campaign or turn out a respectable number of voters. The other side did a little better job, and won an easy victory. I hope both sides do better next time and turn out a big vote. I am not making excuses for anybody, just giving my opinion, based on what I heard and saw. I am about as far from being an expert as it is possible to be. There were people I liked running who lost.
    We have our own loyalties and they color our perceptions, but we come to the same conclusion.

  • Dem in the Know

    Big happenings in the Democratic Party. It will be announced this week that Gail Wall is resigning since she has relocated to North Carolina. Steve Serasis will replace her. Also Walter and Gwynne Briggs have relocated to Wilton. They will be resigning Deputy Democratic Leader and State PArty slots. Big lossses for the Democratic Party. They have served the party extremely well.

  • OLD TIMER

    Good luck, Steve, getting that group all going in the same direction before the next election.

  • Secondhand Rose

    Gail Wall resigning? That’s interesting, if it’s true.

  • Barnstorm

    How can anyone say anybody has served their party well when the “party” has been a disorganized, dysfunctional mess for almost 30 years?

    Turfie’s assessment of the local Dems above seems pretty accurate to me. The ONLY Democrats that have inspired anything for me over the years have been Bruce Kimmel & Michael Geake; both thoughtful, intelligent, and responsive representatives. Most others I have seen have been more interested in serving the Party, not the public. I realize that may be just my own perception and not representative of some others who worked hard . I am usually firmly in the periphery of politics.