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MINUTES
Norwalk Democratic Town Committee, Monday, February 27, 2017, 7:30 PM
South Norwalk Community Center, 98 South Main Street, Norwalk, CT 06854
Call to Order
Chairman Ed Camacho being absent (attending Board of Estimate & Taxation meeting), Vice Chair Galen Wells called the meeting to order at 7:45 PM.
Roll Call
Recording Secretary Elsa Peterson Obuchowski called the roll.
District A: Nicol Ayers, Julie Corbett, Andy Garfunkel, Laoise King, Eloisa Melendez, Elsa Peterson Obuchowski, Joseph Perella, Broderick Sawyer (proxy Dan Obuchowski), Jalin Sead, Steve Serasis, Chris Yerinides.
District B: Olivia Dardy, Raymond Dunlap, Michael Geake, Manny Langella, Mike Mushak,Sonja Oliver, Migdalia Rivas, Sharon Stewart, Howard White, Michael Witherspoon, Martha Wooten-Dumas.
District C: David Brown, John Hauter, John Kydes, Linda Langston, Lisa Nuzzo, Pamela Parkington, Brenda Penn-Williams, Kevin Poruban, Johnnie Weldon, Beth Siegelbaum,Samuel Pride.
District D: Kay Anderson, Robert Hard, Robert Keyes (proxy Heidi Keyes), Bruce Kimmel, Diane Lauricella, Patricia Marshock, Warren Peña, Marilyn Robinson, Nicholas Sacchinelli, Crystal Santiago, Joseph Tamburri.
District E: Michael Barbis, John Igneri, Nora King, Ronald Kowalski, Thomas Livingston,Francis Nash, Naomi Oppmann, Lucia Rilling, Kathleen Tepper (proxy Stuart Wells), Patricia Tinto, Galen Wells.
*Boldface strikeout = absent
Several new people introduced themselves: Antionette Dumas, Mary McManus, Theodore Miller, Kate Ninnant.
Approval of Minutes (January 30, 2017) Moved, seconded. Discussion: Brenda Penn-Williams asked about her comments, which are found on p. 4. Voted in favor, no opposed; abstentions by those who were absent from that meeting.
Reports
Treasurer: The Vice Chair reported on behalf of Treasurer Laoise King that last month our balance was $414.32 and we received donations of $495 from the Blind Rhino fund raiser onFebruary 13. We paid the monthly bank fee of $15 and the Post Office Box annual rental fee and website hosting fee, total $158.98. Our new balance is $735.34.
Chairman’s report: [Chair was absent; no report.]
CT State Legislature:
Rep. Bruce Morris reported that the General Assembly is holding public hearings on various bills. Elsa Obuchowski asked about the event announced by the 3 Republican legislators (How to Respond to an Overdose: NARCAN information & training session). Max Cisneros said the nonprofit he works for supports this and is promoting public information training sessions and distributing NARCAN to the public.
Mike Barbis said there will be a public hearing Wednesday on the ECS.
Stuart Wells, Democratic Registrar of Voters, said he attended a hearing on election related matters. Some of the procedures may be streamlined. National Popular Vote is being debated in Westport Thursday night, sponsored by Westport League of Women Voters.
[later] Galen and Pam Parkington spoke about the Special Election tomorrow (CT state senate & state house) and Sister District Project.
Common Council: [Tabled.]
Board of Education: Mike Barbis said the BOE is at a turning point as the operating budget cap will be set tomorrow night. They want to switch to a state health insurance plan called 2.0 that will save significant money; it is used in Greenwich and several other towns in the area, and Stamford is phasing it in. Our enrollment keeps rising, many students need ESL or SPEd, some student have not been in school for a long time (or ever). Better funding is needed for magnet schools so they are not just magnet schools in name only. Jefferson School and the portables are in very poor condition. Each project will be vetted through a 3-yr process. Mayor needs to make his recommendations by March 15 and then it will be finalized by April 15. There is a public hearing Wednesday and there will be another one in March.
Kay Anderson asked whether the union has a position about the health insurance. Mike Barbis said the teachers’ union has a special provision in their contract that they can’t be made to change insurance plans unless 90% are covered by the new plan. They are working to meet the 90% threshold. It may be able to phase in as of July 1, but it is still in process.
Brenda Penn-Williams asked about the ECS (Educational Cost Sharing) bill proposed by Fred Wilms. Bruce Morris said he is co-introducer of it with Wilms and it takes a look at more factors and prorates, so the poorer districts receive more funding. It also looks at unfunded mandates. You cannot get votes in the General Assembly unless there’s something in it for the smaller towns, so the bill contains waivers from unfunded mandates that smaller towns can use. There is also a Senate bill that Bob Duff working on. All the bills are going through public hearings, so by the time they come out of committee they will be very different.
Bruce encouraged people to attend the public hearings and testify, or send in written testimony if they can’t attend in person. Galen Wells said it can take many hours as legislators & dignitaries & other elected officials get priority, so ordinary citizens may have to wait many hours. Bruce said the order of speaking can be determined by lottery if there are many people wanting to testify. Bruce said it is now well understood in Hartford that Norwalk and Stamford are the anomalies and we do not get fair funding under ECS. Julie Corbett asked to whom we submit testimony. Bruce said send it to Chairs of the Education Committee, found on the CGA.ct.gov website.
District Updates:
District A: Chris Yerinides thanked new people for coming and said we want to welcome everyone. District A wants to have an event like a community cleanup, for example Freese Park, in the spring.
District B: Bruce Morris asked the DTC to be aware of a major concern over the BOE’s capital plan which has become very divisive. District B felt as they were trying to inform the public and raise questions that they were not being heard. Meetings were not held at times good for parents, but this changed as of October. He pointed out that children from South Norwalk attend schools all over Norwalk. He said there’s misinformation. The Norwalk Public Schools website has a Q&A. He said the “Fix It First” plan should not be surprising because people were not being listened to. He said we need to stand together as Democrats. Bruce said he believes we all have the best interests of the children and of Norwalk, but we need to disagree without being disagreeable. He said BOE members are attacking organizations and individuals because they disagree. He said they should have followed a process instead of having 3 meetings that were held at noontime by the Facilities Committee. He said that he and others asked the BOE to look at the entire town and school choice, but the BOE said they urgently needed to expand facilities. He said that he and the NAACP were being disrespected. He said if it is wrong for Donald Trump to disrespect people, it is wrong for one Democrat to disrespect another Democrat in Norwalk.
Brenda Penn-Williams asked BOE members Mike Barbis and Heidi Keyes whether when they put together a plan, do they not ask people from the community. Mike said it is driven by professionals, by consultants, by numbers. You have to start with facts and a framework. We paid $300K for 2 companies to do the study and spent a year doing it.
Brenda asked about the addition in Rowayton. Mike said in 2010 there was a group called Partners for Architecture that examined the buildings. Nora King said Common Council approved it. Mike said when money was left over from repairs to other schools, Naramake and Rowayton were identified as needing repairs and those were done. Mike said he was on the committee for Rowayton School and “there were huge fights” because the parents wanted air conditioning and this was not possible with the funds available. There was a committee with parents & teachers on it.
Darlene Young asked about the Ed Spec Committee. She said the community wants to have residents participate. Mike said it is on the Facilities tab on the Norwalk Public Schools website. It is driven by the Superintendent. The Facilities Construction Commission oversees it once it is set, and it has to follow state regulations.
Bruce Morris said he wanted an action: the DTC should take a stand regarding the BOE civility code. Mike Barbis said previously all BOE members signed the civility code, but this time around there were members who did not want to sign it so they do not have one currently.
District C: [no report]
District D: Joe Tamburri repeated the upcoming fund raiser on Sunday, March 19 3 -5 PM.
District E: Galen Wells reported that the Blind Rhino fund raiser brought in $495. She thanked Pat Tinto for all the work she did to get the raffle prizes and arrange the event.
Galen mentioned that Chris Yerinides is updating the DTC website. (applause)
Mayor’s Progress Report: [mayor was not present]
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2017 Municipal Elections
Galen reminded us that this year Norwalk will be electing a Mayor, Common Council and Board of Education. These are the people who have a direct effect on our lives. We as members of the DTC can run for office and we can help other people with their campaigns.
Jalin Sead asked if we have a written Democratic platform. He said some members of the black community in Norwalk feel marginalized and want to have a voice. He said as Brenda mentioned at the last meeting, there are citizens who might not be voting Democratic.
Joe Tamburri asked if State Central has a platform. (Yes there is: See http://ctdems.org/about/connecticut-democratic-party-platform/ ) Pam Parkington asked that we form a Platform committee. Linda Langston suggested we refer back to the principles that were written 2 years ago. Alan Botens said he has been very upset with the Democratic Party supporting businesses and fund raising. Galen stressed we are electing municipal candidates this year, so we need to raise money so the DTC can have a Headquarters for the candidates, phone lines, publish a brochure at least for the at-large candidates, etc.
Jalin said we could raise more money if we really support people’s values. Chris Yerinides suggested we have an Issues committee separate from the Platform committee. Bruce Morris said we need to focus on people’s pocketbooks; what Jalin said is so true. Galen said we are all Democrats, the party is the people who are in it. Bruce Morris disagreed, saying he knows Democrats who voted for Trump or they didn’t vote. Julie Corbett said our platform can’t just be an anti-Trump platform, it has to be the things that unify us. We need to update the principles, but also have an Issues committee to dive in deeper. How can we encourage policies locally to represent ourselves, make the jobs of the Common Council & BOE members easier and help them? There is a lot of momentum. Kay Anderson said we should circulate the principles that have been written. Brenda Penn-Williams said there is a great divide in this room. Max Cisneros said progressive change happens from the bottom up. We are where that change happens.
Returning to the topic of municipal elections, Nora King announced that District C is organizing a forum in the Community Room on April 5 on how to help people run for office. It is emphasizing getting more women involved in politics. Patricia Russo, Executive Director of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale, will be the keynote speaker (seehttp://wtnh.com/2015/05/08/patricia-russo-empowers-women-to-lead/ ) Nora said Donna King is helping organize it. They had a similar event in 2015. Some members of city boards & commissions came up through that meeting. Galen invited Max and Jalin to participate in planning this event.
Pam Parkington returned to the subject of the Platform Committee and volunteered to be the point person. Chris Yerinides and Pam Parkington and Sam Pride agreed to lead it. People who want to be on it should get in touch with any of the three. pmparkington@aol.com is the contact address.
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Old Business — New Business
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Max Cisneros announced a March 15 meet & greet in Stamford at La Cantina Mexicana at 6:30for Middletown Mayor Dan Drew, who plans to primary Gov. Malloy.
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Sunday, March 19th, 3 – 5 PM
District “D” Spring Celebration Fundraiser
Hosted by Tish Gibbs and Bill Collins
32 Allen Road, Norwalk
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Saturday, March 25th, 9:15 – 11 AM
League of Women Voters “Pie & Politics” legislative forum
Norwalk Police Headquarters – 1 Monroe Street
CT State legislators will be on hand to answer audience questions and update us on what’s happening in Hartford. Free and open to the public. Light breakfast will be served.
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Adjournment
The chair entertained a motion to adjourn at 9:01 PM. |
