Today’s Hour features the first of sure to be many stories of how Republican Mayor Moccia is outmaneuvering Democrats on the council. To appreciate the deft display of political savvy you have to understand that despite the Mayor’s contention that the appointments to the many boards and commissions are by the mayor, the reality is that the mayor requires council approval. Check meet balance. Since the majority of the council is held by the Democrats, that would mean that like the previous two years, some sort of checkpoint charlie like negotiations should take place. Naturally, such negotiations don’t take place in the newspaper, but we have some jockeying of who is wearing the pants going on, so the Hour reports:
On Friday, Mayor Richard A. Moccia, a Republican, released to The Hour his list of “Proposed Nominations” for the council meeting Dec. 11.
Moccia said he hopes to get the names and resumes of the proposed nominations — 13 people in total, as of Friday — to council members as soon as possible.
A combination of term expirations and vacancies, as well as the election — Moccia said he didn’t, for example, want to put forward nominations preceding the Nov. 6 election — will result in an unusually large number of appointments and reappointments at the Dec. 11 council meeting.
“That’s a lot to vote on in one night, so I wanted (council members) to have some advance knowledge on it,” Moccia said. “That’s going to be a lot of people to appoint in one night, and I don’t want (council members) to say, ‘I have to look over 10 resumes in three days, or four days.’”
Moccia described his proposed nominations as a “a mix of everything, and from all parties.”
Moccia, so far, is putting forward the names of six Republicans for appointment, three Republicans for reappointment, one Democrat for appointment and two Democrats for reappointment; and one unaffiliated voter for reappointment.“Some of the newer people haven’t served before on boards, and they just wanted to get involved in the community,” Moccia said. “And then we have some people who are up for reappointment, who’ve indicated they want to stay on. We’re still looking for more people.”
Among the 13 people on Moccia’s list, as of Friday, were Donald Reid for assistant corporation counsel. Reid, a Republican, served as corporation counsel under Mayor Frank J. Esposito, and would fill the post of Robert F. Maslan Jr., whom Moccia appointed last month to head the city’s law department.
For the Human Relations Commission, Moccia is recommending three Republicans: Andrew Mattiello, a former District A council candidate and Fair Rent commissioner; Brian Smith, who has served as Moccia’s campaign treasurer; and Karen Tobin, wife of former Councilman John E. Tobin.
Moccia plans to put forward Democrats James Clarke and Leo Mellow, as well as Republican James Feigenbaum, for reappointment to the Board of Estimate and Taxation.
The mayor will recommend Anna Duleep, a Democrat who ran for a District D seat on the council, for appointment to the South Western Regional Planning Agency.
For reappointment to the Redevelopment Commission, Moccia is recommending Republican Ellen Wink. For reappointment to the Board of Health, Moccia has proposed Theresa Quell, a Republican, and Kenneth LaLime, an unaffiliated voter, as well as newcomer Sheldon Miller, a Republican.
The mayor is recommending Michael Griffin, State of CT Harbormaster for Norwalk, to serve on the Shellfish Commission.
Hrmm, a 9-3-1 party affiliation breakdown. That should really light a fire under Bill Krummel. If Democracy was ending with two council committee chairs going to Republicans, I can’t even imagine what is ending with that many Republicans being recommended for commissions.
Council Majority Leader William M. Krummel, who in the past has asked that council members be given more time to review mayoral appointments, said Sunday that he had received by e-mail a list of upcoming vacancies on boards, agencies and commissions through December 2008 — “that’s a good step” — but not Moccia’s proposed appointments for the Dec. 11 meeting. He expressed hope that they will arrive soon.
“I’m disappointed that we haven’t seen the list of appointments, but I very much applaud the idea, and am looking forward to (receiving the list),” Krummel said. “The ideal situation would be to present the nominations at the first council meeting (of each month) and be acted on the second council meeting.”
When told by The Hour the names of the proposed nominees, Krummel “some of those people are not known to me.” He reserved comment pending reception of the list.
Seemed sort of tame didn’t it. Well, maybe Fred Bondi will say something interesting.
Fred A. Bondi, council president, said more names will be added to the list before Dec. 11. Bondi doesn’t anticipate any council-floor disputes on the recommended appointments.
“I’ll talk it over with Bill (Krummel),” Bondi said. “If we have any problems, we’ll talk it over with the mayor and have the names pulled. We don’t want to embarrass anybody.”
No council disputes? When has that ever happened? Kelly Staniti sounds like a seasoned pro already, she said to the Hour; “[that] she doesn’t believe anyone in the Republican caucus will have issues with the those proposed. She described the recommended appointments as a diverse groups of men, women, young and old, races and ethnicities.”
Moccia, meanwhile, said he plans to handle the appointments as he’s done in the past. That means allowing council members to review the nominees’ names and resumes, but not interview them.
“They’re still my appointments, and the charter says, ‘Recommended by the mayor; approved by the council.’ It doesn’t say interview,” Moccia said. “My feeling is, if you have a problem with a person that wants to serve, there’s some reason why you think they shouldn’t serve, that’s fine. That’s a legitimate reason. But if you just think that you should have an active role in deciding who’s put on, that’s not what the charter says.”
And there you have the official wrap-up. The names of volunteers are out there, and the Democrats are still trying to figure out what constitutes a quorum. And poor Fred Bondi doesn’t realize it yet, but he’s the one wearing the dress.
