CITY OF NORWALK
ORDINANCE COMMITTEE
JUNE 21, 2005

ATTENDANCE: Michael Coffey, Chairman; Doug Sutton; Matt Miklave; Kevin Poruban

STAFF: Katherine Lasberg, Assistant Corporation Counsel

OTHER:

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Coffey called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.

PUBLIC HEARING

Mr. Coffey called the Public Hearing to order at 7:40 p.m. There were no members present, so Mr. Coffey closed the Public Hearing at 7:42 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

** MR. SUTTON MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.

The corrections to the minutes are as follows:
On page 2, the word Jo should be Joe.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. MIKLAVE).

NEW BUSINESS

Chairman Coffey reported that there was no new business for this month.

Chairman Coffey reported on the hearing procedure for parking violations and citations. There is a right to have a hearing for a parking violation and citation. He has spoken to Corporation Counsel and the head of LAZ Parking, and everyone feels this is warranted. Some ordinances were just passed, and they all carry fines. We do need to give residents a procedure to appeal. Mr. Miklave confirmed it only relates to parking violations. There is currently no appeal process in place. Chairman Coffey confirmed that there is no appeal process in place that is codified. Chairman Coffey said that he spoke to the head of LAZ Parking, and he explained that when a citation is issued, they would investigate if someone feels it was not properly issued. There were approximately 35,000 parking tickets issued last year, and the people who appealed were right 2% of the time.

Ms. Lasberg explained the procedure that is currently in place. If a violation is issued and the resident contests it, it would be carried over to a citation and due process for an ordinance violation. The parking enforcement officers are becoming more aggressive in enforcing the ordinances. The appeals are generally denied unless there is a circumstance where a sticker fell off, or it wasn’t visible to the parking enforcement officer. Mr. Miklave asked if that procedure is codified. Ms. Lasberg replied that it is. There is a hearing process held once a month where the residents can appeal a violation. On a rotating schedule, an attorney from the Law Department presides over the hearing as a hearing officer. They want to have that process in place with all other violations. Ms. Lasberg explained that she mirrored the State Statute already in place. Mr. Miklave asked if we adopt this to parking violations, will we have two separate codified appeal processes. Ms. Lasberg said she will confirm if it is codified. She said that the only inconsistency she could see with adding it in is that with the present violation procedure, the resident has two years to appeal from the expiration of the final hearing. With the present citation procedure, the resident has one year to appeal. They currently receive 6-12 appeals per month on parking violations. Chairman Coffey suggested setting up an e-mail channel.

Mr. Poruban asked about the Section 8 hearing officers. There was discussion surrounding the length of terms of the officers. The vote will be on Tuesday.

** MR. MIKLAVE MOVED TO APPROVE THE DUE PROCESS FOR VIOLATIONS.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

OLD BUSINESS – ETHICS

Chairman Coffey said the Ethics Committee was appointed. He urged the committee to decide what they wanted to do, and they decided to handle the matter here. Mr. Miklave said the prohibition on employment following service as an employee or as an officer, and the bar on the receipt of compensation on gifts (pg 7), reads as “An officer shall not solicit or accept any gifts, form of service, compensation or anything of value other than provided for his or her office or under the terms of his or her employment”. One point that was not excluded is “An officer shall not accept compensation other than provided for his or her office under the terms of his or her employment”. His second point deals with the prohibition on employment following service (pg 10) within one year after termination of his or her service. Mr. Wien had originally had a five year prohibition on employment. Chairman Coffey said on page 11, paragraph 2, they shall be appointed by members of the Common Council. The draft has not been accepted. There is a model on ethics. They are looking at other communities to develop a mosaic of a role model on ethics. Once the Ethics Committee meets, the Ordinance Committee might be able to meet with them jointly.

There won’t be a meeting in July. Mr. Poruban said issues were raised in the Mayor’s Anti-Litter Task Force meeting. Some changes were made to the ordinance that has been in place since 1995. This item will go on the agenda under New Business for the August meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. PORUBAN MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:11 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Marr
Telesco Secretarial Services

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