While an appeal to smarter government always has a certain appeal to me, there are a number of assertions made above that are simply incorrect. The City did not clear the land at 95/7, the property owner did. Whatever you may think of the tactic, the fact is that demolition permits are granted without the strings that bind property owners to maintaining the level of tax should they not develop the site. That is legislation that should be pursued by the Common Council, but alas, has not. Sure, many things could be done to help 95/7 move along. A focus on how to alleviate the constraints placed by what is required in order to get development financing would help. One issue; the minimum parking requirements placed by zoning is something that should be removed. It can be done if, and only if, the City can demonstrate that it has a parking plan that would provide for parking along the urban corridor as part of a municipal asset strategy. This level of conversation does not happen either in zoning or the parking authority. Another issue would be to submit significant infrastructure improvements through bonding that would develop capacity for hook ups to the sewer system, electrical grid and ultimately fiber. Right now, the connection fees to our system are out of line with competing cities. Instead we get various political leaders, boards and commissions who seem more preoccupied with timing the market with a loose understanding of commercial and residential demand instead of a focus on what legislative policy actually impedes development. 95/7 does in fact pay property taxes, land is part of the assessment value of those taxes, and does not diminish just because the property is vacant. The development rights associated with the parcels inflate the value, although not as much as if a building were there. The urban corridor is ripe for a healthy discussion about what Norwalk can and should look like in 25 years, but we aren’t going to get there if the discussion keeps focusing on the rearview mirror and confusing politics with policy. View Comment

@Norwalk Native when trucker hats and plaid flannel shirts made a comeback, I realized sartorially, everything old is new again. Striped tube socks have now been paired with micofiber spanx. You've been forewarned. View Comment

Here's some perspective on the digital economy. Laws talk about broadcast, social media is about shared. A digital clip is no more a video than an mp3 is a track on vinyl. So let's all focus on regulating broadcast video because the rest of the world has figured out that its all about sharing stories any which way you can. View Comment

Oh puh-leeze. No one looked conservative in the 1970s, and to characterize the photo as unflattering is uncalled for. Groove on Mayor Moccia, and @Norwalk Native, buy a sense of humor. View Comment

Perhaps I was not clear. There are natural wooded public areas in West Norwalk, so I don't think that Oak Hills Park needs to fill that need. In a larger sense, Norwalk has an abundance of parks, and it's fine to serve different needs. It would seem prudent to have a plan for park amenities city-wide. My pointing out the result of piecemeal decisions in South Norwalk show that following such a path results in parks that end up serving no one. View Comment

There are so many issues here tangled in the usual muck of misinformation. Firstly, I think Norwalk could use a driving range. And if the City wants to subsidize it, then it should think carefully about whether it wants to take up land it already has designated as park and recreation, or acquire new land form the state, say along Glover Ave. which is conveniently located and essentially unbuildable. (look for the usual weeds and trash) Second, West Norwalk has open space in which to amble in nature, courtesy of a conservation easement due to the change in use of the property from something, to corporate something to hotel. (Unlike South Norwalk, where a cement plaza, enclosed Maritime Aquarium play area, blocked access to the Norwalk Harbor, whatever you want to call Ryan Park. a football/soccer field, whatever you want to call Flax Hill Park and the vast amount of asphalt parking lots in Mathews Park supply all the "natural walking" trails available.) Third. the Oak HIlls Authority has bungled this issue, has allowed the Oak Hills Golf Course to decline and fail to generate its operating expenses. This board has failed the City of Norwalk. So let's wind these issues backwards shall we ... if the Oak Hills Authority has any management skills what-so-ever, they would have conducted customer surveys to determine if the existing golf customers would support a driving range, at what price point and and what frequency. Then they would have conducted a market study of the area to determine if others would utilize the driving range, and finally what the market conditions at nearby driving ranges indicated.Then they would be in a good position to figure out if a driving range on-site or off-site made fiancial sense. So when they got to issuing an RFP, it would outline some basic objective with some ideas about the driving range cost and revenue goals. It would also identify what the city investment would be, either by utilizing existing park space or acquisition. And finally whether it made sense to privatize it or have it operate as a municipal owned operation etc. With no data on hand, this Authority continues to make emotional decisions based on convenience instead of business decisions based on facts. That is the real issue every taxpayer in the City should be concerned about. They have substituted their individual wants instead of focusing on what the CIty and Oak Hills Park needs. View Comment

Maybe mother nature intends to have a beach look like a beach instead of having all these man made objects installed again. Its not like the water table isn't rising, the strength of these storms isn't growing and that there won't be yet another storm on its way. View Comment

Bruce, Hal indeed has consistently raised, year after year a need for qualified workers to address public works issues all over the city. Yet the Common Council dawdles over funding for computer system to bill for commercial garbage disposal at the transfer station (2009-10), fails to authorize GIS trained engineers from being hired (2002-present), fails to integrate tax, zoning, fire and health departments via unified permitting and GIS records, and ignores any enforcement of most quality of life issues by barely funding an enforcement position that the Mayor has implemented. I commend your effort at starting the dialog on this, however the idea that the ECS formula is the root cause is somewhat disingenuous. View Comment

Is this a surprise to any one who follows the yearly budget theatrical performance? No one on the council seems to understand that they are a legislative body that creates the policy by which the departments are to follow. Instead they view their role as rubber stamping authorization requests. Mr. Kimmel, fund a real IT Department that can support the DPW tasks for mapping out sewer and water pipes throughout the city. Fund maintenance jobs and tasks so that blocked pipes don't back up water during storms "up the line." Yes, it is true that Norwalk is an old city with antiquated pipes. So why isn't the council funding upgrades and replacements? Norwalk would be better served by a dedication to servicing its infrastructure via a routine maintenance policy rather than the current -"let's wait for a developer to come in and rebuild it for us" plan of action. View Comment

@lwitherspoon If you think the Martha's Vineyard economic model of importing in trades and service workers to work in the area as feasible, then certainly spending tax dollars on smoothing the price curve wouldn't make sense. However, its a question of do you want I-95 to be a chokepoint on economic activity because of the lengthy commutes of workers? Or do you prefer to see the continued exodus of corporations who choose more affordable locations to keep labor costs down? Or maybe simply that you think that its easier for emergency workers to work amazing amounts of overtime to just afford to live in the same city they serve? View Comment

@lwitherspoon If you think the Martha's Vineyard economic model of importing in trades and service workers to work in the area as feasible, then certainly spending tax dollars on smoothing the price curve wouldn't make sense. However, its a question of do you want I-95 to be a chokepoint on economic activity because of the lengthy commutes of workers? Or do you prefer to see the continued exodus of corporations who choose more affordable locations to keep labor costs down? Or maybe simply that you think that its easier for emergency workers to work amazing amounts of overtime to just afford to live in the same city they serve? View Comment

Really, this is news? They arrest a cursing 30 year old woman because someone freaked out over a bunch of alleged "teenagers" running around? What next, old man yells at kids to get off of lawn and police arrest neighbor for loitering? View Comment

@Ken P Jr, actually the property taxes on vehicles are not enough to pay for roads, the roads are in fact subsidized by property taxes on buildings, competing with all the rest of the infrastructure needs of the city. View Comment

For those of us that appreciate graffiti art, this is a sad day. Maybe Bob can spend some time investigating how to get Hal to move the traffic signal pole from the middle of the sidewalk on North Main St. across from the old O'Neils. Not just an eyesore, it is likely an impediment to the disabled. View Comment

It is always nice to see Norwalk's restaurant scene get some nice press. Congrats to all the restos mentioned. View Comment

I too thank all the young newbies who chose to serve. It is a great effort, however, the City is run like it is still the 1980s, computers haven't been invented yet, and every issue is documented by reams of papers. Your peers in other cities get PDF packets, searchable of course, legislative research and have legislative staff dedicated to their caucuses. Government will only be as good as its IT infrastructure and on that score, your IT department is failing the Council. View Comment

@lwitherspoon LOL! View Comment

@Jack Chiaramonte, sweetness has nothing to do with it. This issue is counterproductive and does not move the Norwalk Public Schools forward from a policy perspective, nor a budget perspective. Take a time out, reassess what your board mission is and get to work. There's a reason we have time-outs in sporting contests, both planned, and infraction-based. View Comment

We have two downtown historic districts which would represent good areas to develop brick / cobblestone streets. Historic SoNo, Washington Street etc. , and Historic Wall Street. The investment in historic infrastructure has included brick sidewalks, crosswalks and street lights in some areas, but has had haphazard implementation over the years. The concerns raised about ice / snow are good ones and should be examined along with how drainage and road pitch are designed. While I appreciate Hal's suggestion to move to Montreal, he is once again a bit behind the times, as I once lived in Montreal already. I think it is long overdue for us to take a greater interest in how we invest in how our down towns look instead of defaulting to the arguments that no one cares and change is impossible. View Comment

Is there anyway we can award Jack and Bruce a time-out from everything for awhile? This article and comments however displays classic hubris-- and for extra points Norwalk teachers, please incorporate into a modern retelling of any greek tragedy. Antigone? View Comment