Okay, okay, Opdhal is now yesterday’s news. So what has our enterprising BOE been up to? Well, there’s a skirmish of sorts between Corda and everyone except Jodi Bishop-Pullan and Susan Hamilton over whether the internal candidates applying for Lang’s and Opdahl’s positions will ever see the light of the BOE review.  Corda naturally, wants executive privilege over who makes the final round of review. Normally I would agree with him, he’s the chief executive and its his executive team. But this is Corda, who essentially lost his executive privileges over how he handled the disaster that was Opdahl.

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This appeared in the Hour:
Norwalk loses under Democrats’ budget plan

The reluctance by the Democrats to adjust next year’s budget despite a looming deficit will not only create massive fiscal problems for the state of Connecticut, but cost the City of Norwalk dearly. Republicans in the House and Senate have offered the only balanced budget before the legislature and we have identified sensible ways to fund critical programs that we all agree are worthwhile, from new criminal justice reforms to vital reading programs for our children.

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NORWALK TREE FESTIVAL: Saturday May 3 from 11 AM to 3PM,
at Shady Beach Park, in Norwalk

The Second Annual Norwalk Tree Festival at Shady Beach on Long Island Sound is a free-of-charge combines outdoor recreation with interactive exhibits showing how trees enhance our urban lifestyle–plus hotdogs, hamburgers, soda and popcorn. The activities unfold under open tents from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. rain or shine. The event is jointly organized by the nonprofit Norwalk Tree Alliance and the Tree Advisory Committee of the City of Norwalk.

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Fresh from the fields of finance, the operating budget. Overall a B+. The members of the BET, Common Council and BOE deserve some kudos for keeping the budget within the umbrella of inflation. That’s been no easy feat considering revenues these days are somewhat precarious. So the Hour identifies the following:

Look for several more police officers and firefighters, but otherwise restrained spending in the $273.7-million operating budget headed toward adoption by the Board of Estimate and Taxation.

On May 5, the Board of Estimate is set to adopt the city’s 2008-09 operating budget.

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Tonight the ordinance committee will consider adopting some sort of path to getting the BOE to meet on a regular basis. This was the idea behind the movement last year, which resulted in … no meetings. Mostly due to Corda being unavailable. Alexandra Fenwick reports:

A Common Council committee tonight will consider whether to create a joint panel with the school board to improve communication.

Better cooperation is a perennial topic that tends to come up at the end of budget season.

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Last night I attended the Republican open meeting. It was well attended by a mix of the old, ruh-roh some may take offense to that, and the new. The new people were the focus of course, since registration in the Republican party has been declining in Norwalk for a number of years. It’s not much help that the national field of Republican flavor is so inexcusable. But like Christine Todd Whitman has said, it’s my party too.

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From a press release:

The Norwalk Historical Society is pleased to announce a Militia Muster Weekend on Saturday, May 3 from 10 – 4 and Sunday, May 4 from 12 – 4.   Featuring the recreated 5th Connecticut Regiment, this event is for the entire family and will be held at Mill Hill Historic Park, 2 East Wall Street (at the corner of East Avenue).  There is no admission fee, but donations will be gratefully accepted.

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The Republicans in Wilton have announced that Susan Bruschi plans to run for the open state rep  seat in the 143rd. Norwalk apparently an afterthought, especially reading this:

Blocking the controversial Super 7 highway that would extend the Route 7 connector to Danbury and improving service on Metro-North Railroad’s Danbury Branch are among Bruschi’s top priorities, she sad, as are keeping taxes and government spending to a minimum.

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The Rogers-Ritch-Merritt-Incerto-House-in-a-trailer project now has some financial details thanks to mull over thanks to a Robert Koch article.

A recommendation by the Norwalk Historical Commission last week to close out the city’s Rogers-Ritch-Merritt House project account has left private donors wondering what will become of money they contributed toward reassembling the historic structure at Mill Hill Historic Park.

“We donated $10,000 with the stipulation that the money would be used only for the reconstruction of that home. We made it very clear our $10,000 should come back to us,” said Joseph T. Robidoux, president of The Friends of the Norwalk Museums, Inc. “We’re disappointed that the city is not going to follow through with the commitment to reconstruct the house. (Now) we’re waiting for them to return (our donation) to us with interest.”

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The Hour editorial today scolds the Common Council for stalling on the 4 year Mayoral term start up a charter revision committee. Naturally, they chide council members for asking for more information. What the Hour should be chiding the common council for is not doing their homework in the first place. Committee meetings should be where this council should be hammering out the details of what they intend to vote on. So what committee meeting is discussing a charter revision?

The Hour further states:

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