Mayor Giuliani enforced a Community Based Policing plan that started the decline in crime in New York City. It is the standard now for New York under the Bloomberg administration. It is a prescriptive, quality of life enforcement as mentioned above that makes crime and criminals uncomfortable enough to leave formally crime ridden neighborhoods. This includes formerly dangerous project areas in the City where there is a greater sense of vigilant neighborhood than the fear standard that used to exist in these areas. There is no reason why this paradigm shift for policing could not be used in Norwalk. Or, it could be like Yonkers where the police are satisfied with the crime-ridden area in the southwest of the City because, as I was told by the police chief there, "at least they know where the drugs are coming from." Reform is a far better approach for criminals than simple punishment. Many people who commit crimes are uneducated and often on the edge of poverty. Teach them useful skills, teach them good behavior often through 12-step programs because drug and alcohol abuse is rampant, and be sure they are followed into the community, giving back. It takes more organization, more up-front costs to teach but the return on lower crime rates is well-rewarded. It is also logical - it is expensive to keep a person continuously incarcerated, fed, clothed and medically treated when they could be out, working and being responsible for themselves. I feel uncomfortable in our culture as a rule and no less so in Norwalk. I take precautions on a normal basis and stay aware of my environment whether at home or out in the community. The world is not a safe place but being aware and securing yourself is just smart in any environment. View Comment

Based on income distribution, this report is highly skewed and I hope no granting agency takes it very seriously. Fairfield County is a very small place with a huge range of variable incomes including poverty. To lionize this report and make it headline news ignores the very real needs of, ironically titled in the report, the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metropolitan area. If the examinization is of highest income, the area should be more defined and called the Greenwich-Darien-New Canaan-Westport metropolitan area report. That then, would at least identify on a more realistic level just where in the county the money is. I also question the veracity of data taken on a county wide basis when income disparity exists in other areas as well right next to poverty-based households. Examine San Marino-Pasadena, or Beverly Hills-Bel Air-Pacific Palisades or Montecito--Santa Barbara, all representing sizable areas with incredible per household incomes. Right next to each, one can find communities of far lesser wealth. The Census Bureau would better serve everyone if they took proportional land areas demonstrating wealth concenctration and then look at what surrounds these communities. I think the data would better serve those communities that need assistance and put the wealthier ones in perspective. View Comment

Sorry, RG of Mayo: Privet is considered an invasive and is a non-native while 3 out of 5 of the most common species of arbor vitae are from Asia. AV also is susceptible to burn-out and insects. So, without bamboo, you have a shrub that is supposed to be torn out and another species that you can plant but has limited success depending upon the planting conditions. Properly tended bamboo, while non-native, provides a much quicker, nonsusceptible green cover, could be considered edible in its youngest form and can be used for stakes in the garden as well as woven into fencing and raised beds. View Comment

Talk about invasive: the CT Invasive Plant Council is now trying to legislate my back yard? How about the plant industry that keeps selling these items that are so detrimental to our "natural" environment? People buy running bamboo because they can. They do not know the difference between clumping and running plants. A penalty should go to the sellers of these plants that make them available to unsuspecting homeowners. Bamboo can be maintained and contained. It is also beautiful. To be of assistance to those who don't understand how to grow it would be far more helpful than a contentious approach and what appears to be panic. And, yes, clumping bamboo can spread but, again, install proper barriers, chop down to the ground the sprout at the beginning of the season, stay vigilant, and you will have that beautiful "green fence" to which the gardener above refers without interferring with unhappy neighbors who probably don't want to see a large structure "growing" close to them, their neighbor's home, either. "Invasive plants" seems to have become "every plant" in the eyes of activists including scientists who want to turn the clock back to the pre-European settlement period in order to "regain" a "natural" ecology. What does not seem to be understood is that humans are a part of the ecology and evolution of the ecology occurs both naturally and with human effects. Why not concentrate on creating a healthy ecology with the inevitable human presence instead of tearing everything out, including bamboo, that does not comply with this blindingly plant exclusive oriented viewpoint? View Comment

Excellent idea. Why would an overtime police person need a police car if they are simply directing traffic at a construction site or at road work? Now, if only the implementation of your idea would follow something odd would happen: the City would save money with a good idea. View Comment

Really, your initial question is more dense than I could ever believe you truly are. Of course you compiled that list: you must reinforce your fear and sense of righteousness. Tell me, other than for target practice (that would be nonliving targets) or hunting (?) why is it so important that you have a 7+ round mag? Are the bad guys with guns out to get you? By women's reproductive rights, I am assuming you mean the right to say what happens to their own bodies? Tell me, do you have yours? View Comment

You have SO proved my point exactly by your response. So, I guess that means my points are correct. View Comment

The definition of insanity: keep repeating the same thing over and over, each time expecting a different result. Mr. Guyer exactly points out why the course is failing and rounds are down: 500 resident memberships to keep the cost of overhead and capital improvements afloat? "Our revenue has gone down every year." Has it occurred to anyone, anyone at all, on the OHPA, that golfers are not going to just flock to you? That you need to market the course and other amenities at Oak Hills Park? You are all playing the same old tune and people are tired of hearing it - oh, that would be excepting the Mayor who loves to give money away to 500 golfers while ignoring other pressing needs of the City of Norwalk, 500 less than the entire population. View Comment

The right to march and protest is guaranteed to us by the right to assemble. These mothers have that right just like you have the right to own firearms. Profound paranoia, abject fear, inability to see what the world is just as it is imagined to be, on the brink of Armageddon: good luck to all of you living your lives this way. It is your right but I can't make that choice. At the same time, please catch the subtlety here, I am not the government ready to raid your home of lawfully obtained and used arms. It must be tiring to be you to believe that all of the time. So much anger: to bring up the Cheshire killings, a very rare occurrance in this State if ever (I am sure someone has the chilling statistics on that provided by the NRA or our friend, Tom Paine) is to emphasize what it is that you see through your paranoid and angry filter. Perhaps it would be better for all of you to get some therapy and figure out what's bugging you that you feel so threatened. With your guns in hand, of course. View Comment

I considered that there might be a tad bit of overreaction to weather in this instance but then reconsidered. As mentioned in another comment, people don't know how to slow down and be cautious when driving in the snow. This causes accidents and possible fatalities. Services cannot reach those who are stranded on highways to remove vehicles so that plowing can be completed. The fact that so little by way of accidents and disruption, other than staying at home, occurred speaks to good preparedness. So, not an overreaction, just good sense. View Comment

In another thread, you point out that the total loss in revenue amounts to about 5% of the entire Norwalk budget. Then you point out four different professions including teachers and fire fighters that you suggest would each need to take a 5% cut in salaries which would total a 20% budget reduction to make up for the deficit, rather than a quarter of the total 5%. Now there is the fear tactic of some percentage of 5% coming from additional property tax revenues. I think the loss to the City could be made up for by more efficient work - like getting complete packets to the City Council members in the appropriate time so meetings could be more productive on behalf of all Norwalkers. We have been pursuing data available to Norwalk taxpayers at a pricey charge for over a week now for a small parcel and cannot seem to get it. Perhaps Miklave's efficiencies aren't such a bad idea to implement or at least consider since it seems at least 5% of Norwalk's budget could afford to be cut and efficiencies strengthened. I had never heard of a car tax until moving to CT and would be more than happy to forgo paying that bill. View Comment

In another thread, you point out that the total loss in revenue amounts to about 5% of the entire Norwalk budget. Then you point out four different professions including teachers and fire fighters that you suggest would each need to take a 5% cut in salaries which would total a 20% budget reduction to make up for the deficit, rather than a quarter of the total 5%. Now there is the fear tactic of some percentage of 5% coming from additional property tax revenues. I think the loss to the City could be made up for by more efficient work - like getting complete packets to the City Council members in the appropriate time so meetings could be more productive on behalf of all Norwalkers. We have been pursuing data available to Norwalk taxpayers at a pricey charge for over a week now for a small parcel and cannot seem to get it. Perhaps Miklave's efficiencies aren't such a bad idea to implement or at least consider since it seems at least 5% of Norwalk's budget could afford to be cut and efficiencies strengthened. I had never heard of a car tax until moving to CT and would be more than happy to forgo paying that bill. View Comment

In another thread, you point out that the total loss in revenue amounts to about 5% of the entire Norwalk budget. Then you point out four different professions including teachers and fire fighters that you suggest would each need to take a 5% cut in salaries which would total a 20% budget reduction to make up for the deficit, rather than a quarter of the total 5%. Now there is the fear tactic of some percentage of 5% coming from additional property tax revenues. I think the loss to the City could be made up for by more efficient work - like getting complete packets to the City Council members in the appropriate time so meetings could be more productive on behalf of all Norwalkers. We have been pursuing data available to Norwalk taxpayers at a pricey charge for over a week now for a small parcel and cannot seem to get it. Perhaps Miklave's efficiencies aren't such a bad idea to implement or at least consider since it seems at least 5% of Norwalk's budget could afford to be cut and efficiencies strengthened. I had never heard of a car tax until moving to CT and would be more than happy to forgo paying that bill. View Comment

I love the post office. I love the people who work in them. They are always friendly, helpful and efficient. The post office is a touchstone in a community. I also happen to like "snail mail" and keep handwritten letters going to friends and family. It is such a rarity now that, what was once always enjoyed, is now treasured. I, likewise, dislike the amount of wasted paper and trees that represents the constant onslaught of junk mail. Nearly every item, every day ends up in recycling. There needs to be a paradigm shift but I don't know what it is that would save the Post Office from itself. View Comment

Another attempt by Moccia to create CHAOS (and, oh, how he loves it!) about a simple thing when more urgent matters need his attention. He has forgotten how important his real job is. View Comment

Uh, no, Jim T, I never suggested anyone should pay for anything (except my sister-in-law's brother who was a minor at the time and served time in Juvy and adult prison but has been out of prison for many years.) What I did suggest was a form of security that has been mentioned on other gun regulations blogs and which I have researched a bit - biometric safes. You said something very offensive by saying I suggested "everyone else pay for it." Do you know the power of words? Such crimes as I described are heartbreaking to all involved. This happened in a small community where everyone was affected. That response was enough and lessons were learned the hard way. Your analogy is likewise ridiculous as, of course, many if not most people are car owners. Learn how to think, THEN write. View Comment

The martyr reignites his desires to further Norwalk's lack of progress. This proves how blind he is (or is he wearing "rose colored glasses") to what is going on in his town. The CHAOS alone that he consistently creates during Council meetings should be enough to shame him. But, no, his narcissistic need to keep issues of real import out of the limelight so he can do his dishonest work under the radar is too great. I am tired of seeing what could be a great town consistently falling apart while he encourages discord and disorganization among the ranks. Mayor Moccia does not esteem the title nor does he support it. View Comment

Sorry Paige. Years ago when the estimate was one out of seven Americans had had a direct experience of gun violence, my sister-in-law's brother broke into his Dad's "secured" safe for a handgun, found the bullets in the top shelf of the closet, went to the local department store where his ex-girlfriend worked and shot her dead when she finished her shift. They were both sixteen. I agree with other gun owners on other threads that a biometric safe is the only really secure solution for firearms. Locks can definitely be broken. View Comment

What DID the first responding officer to arrive at Sandy Hook do? Wasn't it already done with a suicide by Adam Lanza to the head? If you are askiing would I protect children from a gun-shooting sadist, I would give my life for them. I probably would not be armed but that does not mean I would not have tried to stop Adam Lanza by using force. It's a disingenuous question - there is no one in their right minds who would not try to have saved those children and adults in any way possible. You have me pigeon-holed, I am afraid, as seems so necessary in these forums. One can value life and try very hard to protect it at the same time and not have to use, necessarily, deadly force. Sadly, in our world and with the way humans think, solving gun problems always has to be solved with guns. I think humans are smarter than that, or at least could be, but the resolve to keep guns in the picture, out of fear, is too great. View Comment

Paige, It's called "dialogue." I don't understand what your point is and was trying to get closer to that. I don't generally think the worst of anyone and certainly not you (especially based on past posts!) I never said you would "sanction the outright murders of civilians during wartime" and had no reason to say that. I gave these as examples because I was asking a question, Are you differentiating between what a sniper does and what a mass murderer does? With both, the aim of the weapon ends up dead. The number of people killed whether in wartime or by "special police forces tactical teams" or by mass murderers is not relevant unless you are placing an intrinsic value on human life. (Using the term "neutralize killers", is sanitized military-speak for killing.) It's all death, it all ends life, whether a "specific, identified target", or "blowing up markets." View Comment