Walter Briggs submits a completed document to the town clerk, but while the city waits on its master plan, Briggs files to start fundraising on his run for mayor. He’s going to need to, since Moccia has raised just under $25k according to the campaign filings. Briggs tapped a blogger from Fairfeld, Matt Wagner to be his campaign manager. That would be the same Mattw who comments here occasionally. Having Matt manage Walter’s campaign is a great score for progressive bloggers. Matt has been writing for MyLeftNutmeg. He also worked for Ned Lamont last year.
Walter Briggs currently serves as chairman of the Planning Commission. His wife Gwen is a council member from District E.
Matt “Mad Max” Breslow reports:
“The city is a beautiful place, and I want to make sure that it moves forward,” the Rowayton resident said during an informal news conference outside the town clerk’s office after filing the paperwork to run for mayor.
Briggs, 72, former acting city manager of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., in suburban Detroit, starts fundraising about $25,000 behind Moccia, according to a campaign finance report the mayor filed Monday.
Briggs said he’s “a little late in getting started” because he was treated for prostate cancer this year and wanted medical clearance before running.
“I wasn’t going to make a commitment until I was sure I could do the job,” he said in a statement. “I feel great; I have lots of energy and I am looking forward to the race.”
At yesterday’s City Hall news conference, Briggs said he did not believe his relatively late announcement would be a problem.
“The disadvantage is . . . that he’s an incumbent and I’m not,” he said.
Moccia said he had seen Briggs yesterday and welcomed him to the race.
“I told him I intend to campaign on the issues, and that’s what I want to keep” the debate on, the mayor said.
He said Briggs is a “gentleman” who will stick to the issues.
Briggs declined to detail his platform, saying he preferred to wait until the party convention July 23 so he can explain his stances to the Democratic Town Committee.
Briggs did not take any direct shots at Moccia, besides saying the city must move forward in many areas and that he feels more qualified for the job.
“I think the mayor needs to show leadership,” Briggs said.
Asked whether the comment was meant as an indictment of Moccia’s leadership, Briggs said: “You can take it the way I said it.”
Moccia said he has shown leadership by working with the Common Council to move redevelopment projects forward, eliminating debt at the Parking Authority and hiring a grants coordinator.
Besides leading the completion of the master plan, Briggs said his accomplishments on the Planning Commission include initiating the East Avenue Village District and heading the South Norwalk, Mid-Harbor and Industrial study committees.
As acting city manager of Bloomfield Hills, Briggs - who moved to Connecticut in 1975 - said he negotiated fire and police contracts and helped write the city’s first master plan while serving on the City Commission.
Briggs said he’ll remain on the Planning Commission during the mayoral race, but declined to say whether he’ll step down as chairman. His wife, Democrat Gwen Briggs, will seek re-election to her seat on the Common Council.
Walter Briggs, an investment adviser at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Darien, is a member of the Rowayton Art Center and serves on the board of directors of the Mid-Fairfield Child Guidance Center.
Democrat Alex Knopp, unseated by Moccia in 2005 after two terms as mayor, will serve on Briggs’ campaign committee, along with former Democratic Mayor William Collins.
source:, Advocate, Briggs makes mayoral run official, by Matt Breslow, July 11 2007
