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Norwalk: Common Council Meeting


by turfgrrl


June 12th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Common Council Meeting 6/12/07

All council people are present except Physlis Bolden who was at A MLK awards rpesentaiton.

Special Guests: CT 81ST Air Force Junior ROTC who have recently won first place State Champion in several drills.

Mayor Moccia recognizes special cadets, and he read the names.

Mayor Moccia reveals that he and Herb Grant were in the Airforce vets. Coffey questions whether they had jets back then.

John Lombardi: Speaks on affordable housing item. Says he has been looking at affordable housing in the city for the last 15-18 years. Claims that people form out of state buy the affordable housing. Would like something in the resolution that says its for Norwalk residents. Says that the council has to do something, more than the housing partnership to provide more affordable housing. Says 2000 condo units come into town, all will have 10% bonus which would be affordable housing. He says we are allowing more than that without knowing what the future is happening in the town. It would be nice if industry which claims that we need them, if they would kick in extra and help the homeowner which pays the bulk of it. You never here when they are taking applications to buy the homes. Urges council not produce something that’s not conducive to bettering life in the town.

End of Public Participation

They suspecnd the rules to appoint a special assistant to corporate council to fufill full time vacancy that was vacated last year. The salary $87k Linda Tomlin.

They voted unamimously to hire the corporatation council.

Mayor remarks: The bonding agency meeting was held last week. Thinks the meeting went well and hopes that the city retains its AAA bind raiting.

Council President: Was ahoy that the mayor included the council at the bond meeting, it was the first time that has happened in a long time. Bond agency commended the city on keeping the tax increases lowest in Fiarifield County.

Consent Calendar:
They close out Capital Budget Accounts and reduce some others. Mostly Land Use and Building line items. Contracts were approved for lead base abatement and plan to purchase new snowplow trucks in addition to contract authorizations to work on storm drainage systems. Plus the linaryar entrance way.

They approved it unanimously.

Matt Mikalve questions item 9.1 because one of his clients was mentioned but there was no financial part so he didn’t have to recuse himself.

Voted unanimously except Mikave who voted no.

Miklave about Affordable Housing national Call to participate. Hempstead would prefer if all the agencies that were involved then with the Housing Partnership. He mentions, council, zba, zoning, tax, etc. Hempstead is reluctant to have outside agency soley in charge. Two biggest impacts are land costs and construction costs.

Miklave isn’t opposed to have more participation, but wished it was made earlier.

Moccia: Can we table it back to committee to come up woth a formal committee for this.

Miklave: Would like to instead table to common council and that he and Hempstead would work out the details.

Bondi: Would like to address John Lombardis comments about Norwalkers being targeted..

Mikalve: Says it might get sticky because it is federal funds.

Hillaird: Said he asked they the Housing Partnership. Staff told him that they have a good record of building housing. Supports that it be table to the next committee meeting.

Hempstead: Apologizes for not being at the meeting and think the Housing Partnership should also be included.

Kydes: Wants to make sure that Norwalk tax payers aren’t unfairly targets.

Romano: Reads from the resolution, says it si inclucisive of the Norwalk workforce. Thinks other people should get involved.

Coffey: Applauds efforts of Hempstead and Miklave to formal bipartisan committee to address that. Council has done a lot to address affordable housing, and mentions that zoning has passed a workforce housing regulation.

Moccia: This is the longest motion you’ve made Matt …

Miklave: stutters.

Romano: Never heard you stutter before …

Mikalve: Just wanted to point out that many former Norwalk workers now have moved to Bridgeport precisely because there’s a lack of affordable housing.

They then vote no on the contract which essentially approves the contract between the city of Norwalk and the police union. It was unanimous.

They then do a roll call vote on the contact bween the City of Norwalk and Norwalk Public Nurses Local 1303-163. They approve it unanimous. (There are 4 nurses)

Then they adjourn.

This was one of the smoothest council meetings.

Tags: In the News · Norwalk

One Response so far ↓ “Norwalk: Common Council Meeting”



  • 1 Anonymous // Jun 13, 2007 at 11:34 am

    Advocate Editorial

    Improved ethics proposal ready for OK

    June 13, 2007

    The Common Council’s Ethics Committee has done the right thing in recommending that a new ethics commission be independent of government.

    The proposal reverses the direction that council members were heading as they draft a new ethics code for the city. Previously, they had planned a system similar to what Norwalk has now, in which the council’s Ethics Committee rules on complaints against members of city government.

    That system brings politics into play where they don’t belong, and gives the impression that factors other than the truth play into ethics decisions.

    Until recently, the Ethics Committee was proposing a new model that would add an independent council to perform a preliminary investigation to determine probable cause that an official had violated the public trust. But the actual investigation and determination in the case would remain in the hands of the Ethics Committee.

    Members of the community, however, advocated for an independent ethics commission to decide cases. Council members apparently listened, and altered their proposal.

    In the new model, not only would an independent commission hear and decide cases, but, upon receiving a complaint, it would appoint a separate panel to determine whether probable cause exists. That, say council members, would allow ethics commission members to be free from prejudice when conducting their own hearings.

    “We’re just trying to avoid as much bias as possible,” Ethics Committee member Carvin Hilliard told Staff Writer Matt Breslow.

    Although ethics complaints in this city are rare, this proposal would establish a good model to adjudicate any that do surface. It would inspire confidence in government and it should be approved by the entire Common Council when it considers the matter late this month or early next month.

    Other portions of the proposed code are something of a mixed bag. It includes several good provisions and a few that could be stronger.

    One issue that’s a bit tricky is the matter of financial disclosure. Some cities, including Hartford, require many officials to file annual statements that lay out their financial interests.

    Norwalk considered making annual disclosures policy, but chose not to because, according to council President Michael Coffey, doing so could discourage people from volunteering for government.

    That might be true, but full disclosure is the best, most-open way to determine whether an official is ever operating with a conflict of interest.

    Norwalk’s proposed code would require disclosure in some cases, including when an official knows he or she has a conflict. The ordinance should be very clear in this matter, and responsibility should not be on officials to determine conflict for themselves. This is one aspect of the new code which, if passed, council members will have to monitor closely, and be willing to change if evidence suggests doing so.

    Another aspect that bears close scrutiny is the matter of gifts. The proposed code would ban gifts to government officials of more than $50. This is a tighter restriction than what some other cities in the state place on gift-giving, but it’s troubling that gifts are tolerated at all. An exception can be made for the waiving of entrance fees to events that government members, especially the mayor, attend in their official capacities, but otherwise it is hard to see why gifts are allowed.

    More welcome are clauses that limit what officials can do after leaving government.

    One would bar a former official from taking a job within a department he or she oversaw for a period of 18 months after leaving office. Doing so would, according to Mr. Hilliard, disrupt any “good-ol’-boy” network like those that often form and drag down city governments.

    The code would also bar former officials for a period of one year from representing parties they dealt with while in office. And it would prohibit officials from taking city records for personal use.

    A particularly useful provision would require the ethics commission to hold a seminar on ethics for city employees and officials every year.

    This new ethics code has been in the works for three years. In general, it compares favorably to others in the state, and on the most important point, the make-up of the ethics commission, council members made a change to reflect the wishes of the community.

    It’s not perfect, and officials must show they’re willing to tighten it if needed. But it should become policy for the city of Norwalk.
    Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.