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NORWALK, Conn. — The Norwalk Daily Voice accepts signed, original letters to the editor. Letters may be emailed to norwalk@dailyvoice.com.
To the Editor,
What if:
• The firm of BlumShapiro, hired by the city to perform an operational review of the Board of Education’s financial procedures, issues a comprehensive report that details problems and provides corrective solutions aimed at preventing future shortfalls and other budgetary calamities.
• The superintendent of schools, the chief financial officer of the Board of Education, the mayor, plus members of the Board of Education wholeheartedly endorse the report and its recommendations. The city’s director of finance reviews the report and announces that he is pleased with the results.
• Someone associated with the Board of Education writes a letter in The Hour criticizing the report.
• A few members of the council, with little knowledge of how the Board of Education actually works, present a resolution to the Common Council urging that body to reject the report.
Far-fetched? Not really. Witness what happened with the report done for the city by the International Association of Police Chiefs.
Bruce Kimmel
Common Council member, (D-District D)
Comments (3)
Of course this is exactly what will happen. "Never let a good crisis go to waste" seems to be the motto of Councilpersons Watts, Miklave, Pena, Duleep, and Igneri. If the auditor's report does not pin blame for what happened solely on the Mayor, the report will be denounced as insufficient due to some superficial reason which sounds good but on further examination defies logic and reason. While a "loyal opposition" can be a healthy thing, the sad fact is that these partisan games do nothing to help Norwalk.
I remember a time when people didn't know or care what political party their City Council members belonged to, because it didn't matter. We were all neighbors and it would have been embarrassing to have been seen acting this way towards fellow citizens. The dysfunction that exists in Washington DC seems to have metastasized and spread to Norwalk's Common Council. Imagine what could be accomplished if instead of these games, everyone on the Council devoted the same energy to finding a way to get more ECS funding for our schools.
I agree with you, Spoon. Bruce nailed it fair and square.