2 0 0 9 R E G I O N A
L L E G I S L A T I V E B R
E A K F A S T
South Western Regional Planning Agency/Metropolitan
Planning
Organization; at the "Community Room," Norwalk City Hall, January
8, 2009
SWRPA LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST 2009 - at the
Norwalk City Hall: lively
and meaningful dialogue about local-State perhaps conflicting
directions...new faces from Darien, Greenwich and Wilton!
WATCH
IT NOW! One hour to the second, as First
Selectman Woody Bliss of Weston, who is Chair. of the M.P.O., keeps the
Q&A going! Video courtesy of SWRPA.
Cable/DSL:
Dial-up:
"LONG
SESSION 2009" CHALLENGES:
A big crowd on hand to hear the SWRPA-MPO
event! The Norwalk HOUR and the Stamford ADVOCATE listened, and
Channel 12 did interviews, with SWRPA recording the event for future
online and Public Access viewing...
What will the Legislature do this long
session (other than figure out where to find hundreds of millions of
dollars to balance the biennial budget we are now working under...and
then what to do about future budgets, where the projections show
lessened revenue to the tune of...billions!)? The answer:
make cuts early in the Session, so at least the towns have time to
budget for funding reduced revenues; do some things regionally or
on a multi-town basis to save $$. This is the only opportunity to
make BIG changes, so watch out for some of the ideas coming down the
pike ("About Town's" wording)!
Lots of good back and forth between and among lawmakers, elected
officials and SWRPA's chairman.
In attendance (unofficial):
Norwalk: Mayor Richard
Moccia, Lou Shullman, Norwalk Transit District, Rep. Chris Perone
(137th), Rep. Larry Cafero (142nd)
Stamford: Ben Barnes,
representing the City of Stamford.
Greenwich: First
Selectman Peter Tesei, Senator L. Scott Frantz (36th), Rep. Livvy
Floren (149th), Rep. Lile Gibbons (150th)
New Canaan: First
Selectman Jebb Walker, Rep. John Hetherington (125th)
Darien: First
Selectperson Evonne Klein, Rep. Terrie Wood (141st)
Westport: First Selectman
Gordon Joseloff
Weston: First Selectman
Woody Bliss, Senator John McKinney (28th), Rep. John Stripp (135th)
Wilton: First Selectman
Bill Brennan, Senator Toni Boucher (26th), Rep. Peggy Reeves (143rd)
For
the story and video of the Legislative Breakfasts in other
years: 2008; 2010.
