“I was born and raised in Norwalk and attended Norwalk Public Schools and lived in Norwalk Public Housing until the age of eighteen. I am 68 years old and my wife and I have been together 47 years. We have 3 children, grandchildren and 2 rescued canines.I retired as Fire Marshal in 2024 and I received my Fire Science degree from Waldorf University at the age of 59.
I was district chair for two years and have strong ties to the community through coaching youth sports and participating in local adult recreational leagues. I have a Fire Science degree, state certifications for Fire Marshal, Fire Safety Code inspection, Fire Investigation and HUD NSPIRE certification. Having been on the Norwalk Fire Department for 23 years, in the Fire Marshal’s Office for 16 years with 8 of those as your Fire Marshal. I am clearly committed to our community with a working knowledge of how various city departments operate, in particular Public Safety. I think I have earned the respect of residents and those in city government, including department staff. I have a proven track record of collaboration with city departments, residents and the public in general.
What are the three greatest challenges facing the community, and how will you address them?
Public Safety: Educating our community in order to correctly identify illegal apartments, using state statute and local ordinance to enforce compliance. Coordinating our various enforcement departments for greater impact, i.e., Fire Marshal, Police, EMS, Building, and our Health departments. These departments have to be fully staffed and fully funded in order to be effective and responsive. We should consider a per-unit fee for residential multi-family inspections; several Connecticut municipalities have done this.
Housing: We need affordable housing without necessarily building new buildings. Vacancy rates for various office buildings and the potential for converting these vacant spaces to residential occupancies should be considered. Some of these existing buildings are near train and bus routes, this will potentially help with car traffic.
Infrastructure: Traffic light timing or adding left turn arrows in various locations in Norwalk for example, side streets and the I-95 ramp on Connecticut Avenuehave backups throughout the week. Additionally, adding and enforcing “block the box” striping would help with backups. Electric Vehicle charging stations in parking lots beneath residential buildings should not be approved for future residential developments. Additionally, with future development our wastewater treatment plant must be a top priority for modernization. Overflows during storms are directly affecting our waterways and as a shoreline community we have to mitigate these events.
How will you ensure that essential city services, like sanitation, parks, and libraries, are responsive and efficient across all neighborhoods?In speaking with city employees on a regular basis, both past and present, I believe that morale is an issue. Morale must be considered in regard to response and efficiency for each department. Are our city employees feeling respected? Do they feel appreciated? As for sanitation, it has been privatized, which now costs more for multi-family properties. If there is an issue with pickup, you will have to speak to the private company to resolve your problem. We need to find an alternative to decrease the cost of sanitation for multifamily property owners. These services have to first be fully funded and staffed in order to be efficient and responsive, not necessarily privatized. I see that our public library has had funding cuts the past several years. Our library offers free classes and events for residents, so there should be no decreased funding. It comes down to having enough staffing and good employee morale to continue to be efficient and responsive.
If you are an in-district candidate what is a specific issue that you will address in your district? How would you ensure all residents’ voices are heard?Assuring that residents voices are heard only requires them to contact me through whatever medium they are comfortable with. As Fire Marshal, I had a proven track record of being accessible and responsive to everyone. That will not change. Illegal apartments: Correctly identifying illegal apartments and using state statute and local ordinance to enforce compliance. There are approximately 30 licensed rooming houses in Norwalk, also state operated single-family reentry, as well as single family homes with up to 5 unrelated residents. Are these being misidentified as illegal apartments? Educating our residents on what is legal helps. Utilizing our various enforcement departments together, i.e., Fire Marshal, Police, EMS, Building, and our Health departments. This was something I promoted as Fire Marshal that was successful; a good working relationship and sharing information with all city department heads and their personnel.
What is your vision for the future development of Norwalk? I would like to see more transparency and accessibility in our elected officials, department heads, boards and commissions, in order to allow residents more opportunities to voice their concerns prior to any approvals. We have seen our city grow and I believe we have to continue smart development with affordable housing and traffic control. Any future development must consider resident and the general public’s safety. Electric Vehicle charging stations in parking lots beneath residential buildings is a public safety issue. One Connecticut municipality has created a local ordinance against these particular installations. In some instances, car fires involving Lithium-ion Batteries have overwhelmed extinguishing efforts. Additionally, with future development our wastewater treatment plant must be a top priority for modernization. Overflows during storms are directly affecting our waterways and as a shoreline community we have to mitigate these events.”
