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.

2. We have several different redevelopment projects planned for the urban corridor. What will you do to ensure that the developers work together so the end result will benefit the city?

Just as important as getting the developers to work together is getting the various city departments to work [together]. While all these housing units go up, we need to be upgrading our sewers and drainage, our waste treatment, our police and fire protection, our streets and intersections, our schools, … I see the job of the Council as not only funding all of this, but demanding that the mayor oversees his department heads to ensure that the work is done and is done correctly.
Same with the developers: after the plans are finalized and the agreements all signed, the role of the Council as the check that demand that the mayor oversees his department heads to ensure that what is built is what was agreed upon and how is was agreed upon.
Ensuring that the developments coexist and all benefit the city better have happened long before!

3. The past budget cycle was contentious about funding for education. Do you philosophically support funding Norwalk’s education more or less - and why?

I philosophically support funding Norwalk’s schools at the level they require, not more and not less. The problem is, there is no finance director, there “predictions” underlying the estimates are constantly changing, and funds are constantly changing.
§1-520 of the Norwalk City Charter requires that, at least once in each month, shall transmit to the Mayor a detailed statement of expenses incurred during the preceding month. I will ask for a copy of reports from the start of this fiscal year, and then for each month’s as it is transmitted, so that I can properly exercise the only control the Council has over the BoE, its checkbook.
Having said all this, I will not vote for any budget this year that doesn’t include funding for a qualified finance director, and going forward, one that wasn’t prepared by a competent budget director!

4. What will you do to address quality of life issues such as crime, traffic, housing, etc.?

All of these issues can be tied to the fact that for many, many years, Norwalk has failed to properly budget for its needs. The police force is short-staffed, making proper traffic control and proper patrols difficult if not impossible. DPW is short staffed, so road maintenance, park maintenance, street cleaning all suffer. The list goes on and on.
We need to be much more clever about how we use the resources we have. A simple example is the rampant drug dealing in Ryan Park: since every cop has paperwork to do, you have them do it in their car parked along Raymond Street.
We also need to look at sources of funds other than local taxes and state appropriations. Here, my favorite example is the creation of a municipal power authority, which would both cut taxpayers electric bills and obviate the need to raise taxes to fund needed improvements.

5. If elected, what would you do to reach out to the community?

From the moment I am first elected, I plan to work for the creation of the Norwalk Power Authority; this effort, done properly, will require extensive community involvement.

Beyond that, I can’t see being much different than I’ve been in my tenure as a Second Taxing District Commissioner: my address and phone number are published, and my cell phone number is available to anyone who wants it. I go to every public event I can (though until this at-large run, the non political ones I’ve tended to favor those in the Second Taxing District and those with the Golden Hill Association).
And I will definitely continue to be a frequent poster on the blog — in my own name — because somebody has to set all those anonymous Republican posters straight!

6. The year is 2030 and aliens from outer space have just landed in Norwalk. How would they describe what they see?

That depends greatly on who is elected this cycle (and possibly the next):
If the opponents of affordable housing take control, they will be met with armed rent a cops because the police — even with all their overtime — couldn’t afford to live within driving distance of their jobs. They’ll also see armed guards at the gates of the city, there to keep the riffraff out.
They won’t see children, because teachers couldn’t afford to stay; and they won’t see grocery stores, hardware stores, and the like, as their minimum wage workers couldn’t afford to live anywhere near Norwalk either.
South Norwalk will have been demolished, with a huge marina built to accommodate all the yachts. Only upscale shops and restaurants will have survived, and they’ll be in SONO with the yachts.