Isn’t this sort of a dog bites man story?

Sen. Bob Duff, D-25, majority whip, and Rep. Toni Boucher, R-143, who both serve the legislature’s transportation committee, said they had no idea the rail facility would cost more than the $300 million appropriation from 2005.

Jeff Beckham, a spokesman for the state Office of Policy Management, said the office was made aware of higher costs, but he wasn’t able to determine as of press time who found out and when.

“We understand that we’re going to have to fund that in the future, and we’ve been working with DOT to identify those funding needs,” he said.

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Just when you think political stereotypes are out dated, the Common Council Dems decided that keeping an eye on property taxes was too hard and they voted down a proposal to cap the Norwalk budget at 4.1%, or the rate of inflation.

“(The cap) was a number that the leadership of the council came up with,” said Carvin J. Hilliard, Finance Committee chairman, afterward.

The committee recommended the cap on a 4-2 vote along party lines, according to Hilliard, a Democrat.

Republican Douglas E. Hempstead tried unsuccessfully to set the cap lower by lowering the net increase to the Board of Education from 4.5 percent to 4.1 percent.

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The finance committee of the common council debated, sort of, whether to reimburse Nick Kydes for the lawyer that he hired to defend himself against then fellow council member Kevin Poruban’s ethics complaint. As an appointed official myself, I have to agree with the conclusion of corporate counsel on the indemnification of elected and appointed officials. 

“My information, again it’s from almost anecdotally, but it’s from people who told me things about past practice,” Maslan said. “My understanding has been when an official, like a council person, was the subject of a complaint, and the activity, or the conduct, or the action that is the focus of the complaint was the person actually acting in the capacity as council person, then the provision of the defense was automatic.”

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