Here’s the links to the Voter Guides put out by The Hour and The Advocate. Enjoy!

The Hour

election_2007.pdf

The Advocate

Election_advocate 2007.PDF

[Read more →]

1. This year’s flooding problems showed that infrastructure should be more of a priority in Norwalk’s spending. Where do you think we should be spending our money?

There is no doubt that we need to address infrastructure. When we first heard of flooding problems 5 years ago, it seemed as if it was an anomaly. When we had additional flooding reports in following years, it was a definite pattern. As chairman of the Public Works committee from 2003 to 2005, I began researching rainfall levels published by the Yale School of Forestry and the New England Foresters Association. Their publishing showed we were experiencing increasing rainfall levels in shorter time spans. I’ll leave climate change to Al Gore; however, we are definitely experiencing a pattern change in our weather. It was apparent that existing drainage systems were inadequate to handle the rain levels we were experiencing. This is still a number one priority.

[Read more →]

This is part of an ongoing series of guest posts about issues in Norwalk yourCT.com is a non-partisan site dedicated to airing all sides of an issu That can’t happen without valuable contributions from our readers.

This article originaly appeared in the Hour in 2003.

By Bruce Kimmel

[Read more →]

1. This year’s flooding problems showed that infrastructure should be more of a priority in Norwalk’s spending. Where do you think we should be spending our money?

Constantly hearing that we don’t have the money to fix our infrastructure and that we can’t raise taxes to pay to fix our infrastructure is what drove me to run in the first place.
The mayor says these things take time, and he has a 5 year plan to address the flooding. This is not only unacceptable; it’s unconscionable!
I am the only Common Council candidate who has outlined a realistic plan to pay for these repairs, and then to pay for improvements, without raising taxes.
As the old commercial said, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.” Past administrations chose later, and now we have a balloon payment due.

[Read more →]

1. This year’s flooding problems showed that infrastructure should be more of a priority in Norwalk’s spending. Where do you think we should be spending our money?

Sewer and storm drainage issues have certainly focused the spotlight on our Public Works Department, along with the ongoing road paving improvement projects. To fix the flooding, obviously we’ll need to precisely indentify the problems through engineering studies, then redesign, excavate and replace pipes. One way to save a lot of money is to pick the brains of the contractors who have done work for the city. They know the infrastructure as well as anybody and from my experiences are more than willing to share their knowledge.

[Read more →]

Sore loser Chris Caruso will have his day in court, again. This time it’s the State Supreme Court which will hear his arguments about the process of the September Bridgeport mayoral primary. From the Connecticut Post:

Caruso’s down-to-the-wire appeal to Connecticut’s top court threatens to send Tuesday’s election into a tailspin if delayed. Conservatively, state elections officials say it will cost the financially beleaguered city at least $100,000, suppress voter turnout for the four other citywide races involving 27 candidates and the 51 others vying for City Council seats.

[Read more →]

Both the Hour and Advocate report that serious crimes went down but …

The most serious crimes in the city declined 11 percent during the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2006, Police Chief Harry Rilling said yesterday.

During the first six months of this year, there were 94 fewer Group A crimes than last year, which include assault, homicide, burglary, robbery and sex assaults, a decline from 843 to 749.

But not all crime categories declined. Kidnapping - including the domestic violence charge of unlawful restraint - rose from nine incidents in 2006 to 15 this year.

[Read more →]