A perfect storm of sorts is heading our political junkie way this coming Tuesday, when the Norwalk Common Council holds its meeting in the aftermath of the Norwalk DTC battle of Waterloo. Or is it the 100 year war? French-Indian? War of the Roses? Battle of the Bulge? It’s memorial day tomorrow, so our posting today is military themed. For some reason, Norwalk Democrats elected/chose/coerced some pretty brain dead individuals to make up the exclusive fan club called the town committee. I can only reach that conclusion by summarizing the latest round of action as the vainglorious attempt to foment as much chaos on the Common Council as possible.
The Democrats hold a majority on the common council. In a weak mayor strong council format, this means that the council, through its votes to authorize the use of Kleenex by the Mayor and every department in City Hall, pretty much controls what the city does. Yet, since about 1972 plus or minus about 100 years, local Dems have not been able to recognize that simple math. Instead they operate like a band of rutting deer, butting heads with each other instead of getting around to the business of governing. Which is why any freshman student of poly sci would look at last Wednesday’s DTC vote to support Stuart Wells over Betty Bondi as registrar and conclude that addled emotions took absurdity to new extremes.
The beef with Betty Bondi, depending on who you talk to, either had to to do with imagined injustices and nepotism perpetrated by Fred Bondi, her father-in-law, or because registrar activities weren’t getting done. The irony, and its a doozie, is that the person they chose to nominate instead is Stuart Wells, husband of former Democratic Town Chair Galen Wells. Mmm, can we smell hypocrisy over nepotism this morning? And if Norwalk Dems have any serious beef about job performance, well then why is it that Galen Wells’ inability to manage not just the party (2 state party reprimands for not following rules) and delivering election campaigns that were setting the lowest turnout records for Democrats in the state, up for discussion? Which would lead them perhaps down the path of questioning exactly how Stuart Wells, ostensibly the person in charge of the “vaunted” Democratic database managed to somehow turn out such low response rates? For Bobby Burgess to claim any sort of decent turnout in “B” is laughable. Then there’s always the computer incident where somehow a computer containing pornographic images allegedly shown to a child was swept away before it could be seized at the crime scene.
Now onto to the politics of the situation. Fred Bondi is still the Common Council President. Which means he has a little more discretion than the average council member to set the direction of what the council will act upon. Which means that an entirely unhappy Fred Bondi will look at the actions of the Norwalk DTC and conclude that a response of sorts will be needed. Hence Tuesday is going to be a pretty fair indicator of how things are going to go. Let’s review which Democrats on the Common Council are also on the DTC. That would be Laurel Lindstrom and Bill Krummel. And a trip to the Common Council Agenda for Tuesday provides us with:
A. GENERAL COUNCIL BUSINESS
1. RESOLVED, that in accordance with section 7-188 of the Connecticut General Statutes, the Common Council initiate the process of amending the Charter of the City of Norwalk, and appoint a Charter Revision Commission.
2. RESOLVED, that the Common Council hereby appoints the following persons as members of the Charter Revision Commission: Edna Brooks, Robert Virgulak, Peter Nolin, Michael Coffey, Herbert Grant & Fran DiMeglio.
3. RESOLVED, that the Common Council recommends that the Charter Revision consider amending the Charter of the City of Norwalk to provide for four-year terms for all elected officials of the City of Norwalk.
4. RESOLVED, that the Charter Revision Commission shall submit its draft report to the Common Council on or before July 21, 2008.
5a. Create a Special Committee of the Common Council for the purpose of issuing a request for proposals for a study of the feasibility of a public power system for the City of Norwalk. Proposals for the study shall be submitted to the Land Use and Building Management Committee of the Common Council for review and possible selection. The special committee shall disband upon the issuance of a request for proposals, or July 24, 2008, whichever is earlier.5b. The following Council Members shall be appointed to the Special Committee:
Bill Krummel Doug Hempstead
Kelly Straniti Doug Sutton
Andy Conroy Mike Geake
So there you have the preview. A charter revision committee vote, which means the four year mayoral term issue, and a public power committee charged with just issuing an RFP. How the Council Dems will vote on both issues will be fairly interesting and I’m sure entertaining. Does any of this actually have anything to do with governing Norwalk? Well, no. That might be a little bit too much to ask. Sit back and pass the popcorn.
