Kimmel: Democrats Were Fiscally Responsible

Bruce Kimmel is a Democratic candidate for the Common Council as a District D member.

Pete Torrano, a prominent Republican, published a letter in TheDailyNorwalk.com on Aug. 4 that unfairly characterized the Democratic administration of former Mayor Alex Knopp as “reckless spenders.” His letter was written in response to a column Nora King, David Jaeger and I published in TheDailyNorwalk.com on Aug. 1 comparing the fiscal policies of Knopp and Mayor Dick Moccia.

We concluded “neither administration can fairly be characterized as a reckless spender.” We noted that both administrations maintained the city’s AAA credit rating and their average overall tax levies for the city were similar."

We did not base our column on median property tax increases for homeowners because of the varying effects of the 2003 and 2008 property revaluations. Instead, we used the overall tax levy for the city, even though that form of data can be influenced by population trends and changes in home ownership. But after reviewing census data on these factors, we decided that overall tax levies would indeed facilitate a valid comparison.

Torrano, in contrast, based his letter on “average homeowner’s taxes” and does not even mention the two property revaluations.

The 2003 revaluation, under Knopp, had a major impact on homeowners and was thus phased in. Most of the property tax increases during Knopp’s four years in office were caused by revaluation, over which the mayor had no control. Spending increases under the Democrats were among the lowest in Fairfield Country. The 2008 revaluation, under Moccia, had much less of an impact and was implemented all at once.

But let’s not quibble over data. Instead, let’s see what the local press had to say about the 2005 election, when Moccia defeated Knopp by 176 votes. Both The Hour and the Norwalk edition of the Stamford Advocate carried major analyses of the election two days after the vote (Nov. 10). Nowhere in any of the stories are there negative comments about Democratic fiscal policies.

The Hour article, primarily an interview with Moccia, discussed the incoming mayor’s priorities: hiring a grants coordinator and a labor negotiator, settling the firefighters’ contract, addressing parking problems, and reducing crime and gang violence. From his comments, it’s fair to conclude that “reckless spending” was not an issue in the campaign.

The same can be said about the campaign analysis in the Advocate. It focused on the same issues that were highlighted by Moccia in The Hour interview. It also noted that spending increases under Knopp were among the lowest in Fairfield County. Interestingly, Randall Avery, a Republican member of the Board of Estimate and Taxation, said he supported Knopp’s budget proposals because they were fiscally responsible. I supported those budgets for the very same reason.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

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