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Norwalk: Alvord Earns Union Ire


by turfgrrl


April 23rd, 2008 · 20 Comments

At 2pm today, union DPW employees are announcing a “non confidence” petition aimed at Hal Alvord. Form the Hour:

Department of Public Works employees plan to hand Mayor Richard A. Moccia a petition today expressing “no confidence” in Director of Public Works Harold F. Alvord, according to union officials.

“They put together a petition. They’re deeply concerned and troubled by Mr. Alvord’s behavioral patterns, by his managerial practices,” said Larry Dorman, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Association Council 4. “They want to change the culture and the climate of public works for the better. And they feel that the citizens of Norwalk are not being properly served by Alvord’s managerial study.”

Dorman said at least a half-dozen rank-and-file public works employees belonging to American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2405 — a member union of Council 4 — will be at City Hall at 2 p.m. today to deliver the petition. Dorman said the union has alerted Moccia’s office about the petition.

The petition reads: “We, the undersigned members of Local 2405 of Council 4 AFSCME, AFL-CIO, have suffered constant and unrelenting abuse from the managers of the Department of Public Works. Repeated complaints and pleas to be treated with common decency and respect have fallen on deaf ears. We therefore declare that we have no confidence in the Director of Public Works, Hal Alvord.”

Dorman said details of the employees’ complaints will be made available today.

Moccia could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Eighty-nine members of Local 2405 member have signed the petition. That represents close to 90 percent of Local 2405 members who are supervised by Alvord, according to Dorman and Peter Thor, director of policy and planning for Council 4. The parent union represents 35,000 workers statewide.

Alvord said Tuesday afternoon that he had not heard about the petition. He limited his comments pending reception of the petition by the city.

source: The Hour, Public works union votes ‘no confidence’ in Alvord, by Robert Koch, April 23, 2008

Tags: Norwalk

20 Responses so far ↓ “Norwalk: Alvord Earns Union Ire”



  • 1 anonymous // Apr 23, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    I’m very curious to learn the specifics of this complaint. I’ve seen our DPW crews at work and it sure hasn’t look to me like they were suffering abuse. Hal might not be this city’s most creative manager but I would be very surprised to learn he wasn’t trying to do his conscientious best. Remember the DPW open house last year? That was a really different picture of the staff than this news portends.

  • 2 Anonymous // Apr 23, 2008 at 12:59 pm

    Can we get these union folks to talk to the union who’s protecting Sue (you) Gunn’s job? Talk about dead people, you could replace the curator with a corpse and save the $70k salary that she’s hosing the taxpayers for.

  • 3 Anonymous // Apr 23, 2008 at 2:18 pm

    maybe he has a job with a private contractor and doesn’t need Norwalk anymore.Al had a couple of serious promotions running for this company but was pulled when the EPA became involved a couple of months ago.Conflict of interest didn’t suprise most who have been asking him for facts from the shellfish commission for a year.

    http://www.abtechindustries.com/index.asp?mid2=189

  • 4 Anonymous // Apr 23, 2008 at 4:57 pm

    BID DEAL! The Historical Commission had 2 votes of No Confidence in Sue(you) Gunn and despite the back and forth (for years) lies the prior mayors and their Corporation Counsels spewed out, …NOTHING HAPPENED.

    I guess they didn’t want to give up the $100,000 in improper and possibly illegal grants her daddy gave her which the Common Council never approved or knew about (except Fred Bondi).

    Even after the Mayor’s Committee on Historic Preservation reported that #1 she should answer to the Commission and #2 the job SHOULD be defunded…NOTHING (except a lawsuit for phony overtime which could have been verified and won her a raise). It’s hard to believe it’s the same union.

    What was the solution??? Stack the Historical Commission with her and Peter Bondi’s friends, who know nothing and let her “play” curator while they “play” commissioners.

    Maybe the Union can get their attorney (who represented the curator so well) to Sue the City!! Good luck! Or better yet, make Hal the Chair of the Hysterical Commission!

  • 5 Anonymous // Apr 23, 2008 at 5:28 pm

    Whoops the allegations are flying fast and furious but then I guess some city employees are fair game and others arent you guessed it folks McGruff the Crime Hog here once again testing the waters to make sure my toe dont get bit off. Sounds like a job for Woodstein and Bernward if you axe me just follow the mo-nay like Sore Throat said. Who’s wagging their tongues around here sounds like a midnight meeting under the Haviland Parking deck is needed to flush out the rats in the s*itpile. Better go now before I get myself in more hot water adios to all you and remember… Dick like it Ruff!

  • 6 anonymous // Apr 23, 2008 at 5:38 pm

    I think Hal would make a great chair of the Historical Commission!

  • 7 Dems are up to old tricks // Apr 23, 2008 at 7:44 pm

    Looks like some of the dems are kicking up a good ole ruckus over an appointment that their Mayor Knopp appointed. Looks like Alvord was a good selection by Alex Knopp and the Republicans cleaning up another one of Knopp’s messes. Just like the School construction problems.

  • 8 anono // Apr 23, 2008 at 9:00 pm

    While I haven’t seen any details which form the basis of the union’s complaint, my experience with Hal is that he is an effective and professional manager. Let’s wait until we see some “evidence” before we go off “half-cocked”.

  • 9 Anonymous // Apr 24, 2008 at 8:35 am

    Maybe just maybe Hal is making them work rather than hang out on side streets watching the pot holes get bigger.

  • 10 old timer // Apr 24, 2008 at 9:49 am

    The Mayor is offended nobody called him before they went public.
    Harold “I’m never wrong” Alvord won’t talk about the issues in the complaint, but is quick to point out some of the signatures are not current DPW employees.
    At least, neither of them tried to spin a union vote of no-confidence into evidence of good management. At least, not yet.

  • 11 Anonymous // Apr 26, 2008 at 8:09 am

    It’s time for new blood at DPW. Hal doesn’t support neighborhood initiatives or requests from citizens. If it isn’t in his plan, the answer is always “NO”! It is time to Hal “NO”!

  • 12 Anonymous // Apr 27, 2008 at 2:34 am

    Poor ole Colonel Alvord, he can’t help it, that commute from Danbury makes him grouchy, and, when he gets here, nobody salutes.
    Do we pay for that commute ?

  • 13 Diane Cece-Pesky Unaffiliated Constituent // Apr 27, 2008 at 10:04 am

    I wonder if Hal regrets not applying for the DPW Director opening in his hometown of Danbury in 2006. He would have at least missed the great Flood of ‘06. Maybe he did apply and lost out? My guess is that he is smart enough not to poop where he eats, so he lives there and works here, leaving skid marks all the way up Rte 7. I’m very happy to see that the DPW Director of Danbury actually LIVES in Danbury. The guy must have a vested interest in what he does for a living.

  • 14 Townie // Apr 27, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    What was Knoopie thinking when he hired Alvord? What do you think you get when you hire a retired Army Corps of Engineer Colonel who has been spoiled and contaiminated by 30 years of the good life working in the federal government “money is no object” system. If you need $1,000,000 you get $2,000,000. If you require 30 men & 50 trucks you get 50 men & 100 trucks. If you need more time, you get all you want. If someone under you disagrees, you “move him out”. Your both the judge and the jury. Good choice Alex.

  • 15 Anonymous // Apr 27, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    why has he lasted so long? Why has he been given so much power? Why hasn’t the Mayor commented on his peformance? Why hasn’t the city asked for accountability?

    Old army guy might explain some of his choices for outside contractors.

    So who is our next choice? we should be thinking along that lines but who from where? and when?

  • 16 old timer // Apr 28, 2008 at 11:25 am

    Home town ? Isn’t he from Pennsylvania ?

  • 17 old afscme union man // Apr 29, 2008 at 10:53 am

    If he is sending people home for a day, and docking their pay, he is dead wrong and they should not stand for it. It’s not like they get paid so much, they can easily afford to lose a day’s pay. You can be sure there is nothing in the contract that allows him to do that. It would be fun to hear him try to explain that to a judge.

  • 18 old timer // May 2, 2008 at 8:09 am

    Both the Hour and the Advocate report a meeting with the mayor, the personell dirctor, and the colonel, with representatives from the union. Both sides sound pleased with the results and plan on meeting again, but release no details. The colonel says the thing last week is history and we are looking ahead, not back. The union reps need to watch their backs. The colonel was publicly embarassed and will look to get even.

  • 19 abbastard // Sep 28, 2008 at 4:12 am

    Mr. Alvord is an exceptional man and has led Norwalk towards a new direction! This city has never been better! I’ve lived here for over 20 years and have never seen a better statesman, Mr. Alvord I believe would and should be the next mayor of Norwalk better yet the governor of Connecticut.

  • 20 Anonymous // Sep 28, 2008 at 8:49 am

    The problem with Alvord is that when he retired from the military, he forgot to leave the military command attitude behind. A civilan workplace, especially with a union, Alvord is no longer a colonel who can order his troops around on a whim, but must coordinate with his contractual workers to ensure that he doesn’t violate the contract in his decisions. These aren’t 18 year old recruits who are 10 minutes late rushing from their bumks to the parade field. These are men and women who have families, who must negotiate Fairfield County roads and traffic jams on their way to work.
    The military mentality of “you will do what I say because I have the Oak Leaf” doesn’t work in the civilian environment. Here you are just another guy with a tie.

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