Burnett new Norwalk Common Council president
NORWALK — After falling short by just one vote in 2021, Greg Burnett has been unanimously appointed Common Council president for the next year.
Common Council members appoint a president, majority and minority leaders each November.
Burnett, who was first elected to the council in 2017, was the sole nominee for the role of president and was unanimously appointed last week.
“As we prepare for the challenges that lay ahead of us in 2023, I am hopeful and eagerly anticipating our planning for success improvements and transformative impacts that are in the horizon for our great city,” Burnett said after his appointment. “I am looking forward to joining forces and collaborating with each member of the Common Council, the mayor’s office and staff and Board of Education to enhance our
“As we prepare for the challenges that lay ahead of us in 2023, I am hopeful and eagerly anticipating our planning for success improvements and transformative impacts that are in the horizon for our great city,”
Greg Burnett
joint concerted efforts as we strive to continue to make Norwalk a safe, great community to live, work and enjoy life for all residents. So, let’s get to work.”
Burnett, who was the council’s majority leader in 2020, was previously nominated for the presidency last fall, but lost to council member Tom Livingston by a vote of 8-7. Livingston, who has been on the council since 2015, previously served as president in 2018 and 2019 as well.
Last year’s narrow vote was the first time a president was not unanimously appointed. In 2013 and from 2017 to 2020, the council president was nominated unopposed and appointed unanimously, according to city documents.
Council member Darlene Young was chosen as the Democratic majority leader while Bryan Meek, as the sole Republican member of the panel, automatically became the minority leader.
“All of us, what we’re doing, we do it together the best we can and try to steer the ship in the right direction for the city. I am honored to be a part of this process and I’m here to work and get things all together,” Young said. “We are not always going to agree, but we have to agree in doing what’s best for the city of Norwalk and the residents who elected us and the people that we serve.”
The president runs council meetings and leads the city if the mayor resigns or is unable to perform their duties.
Meek questioned the role of the council president and party leaders when his attempt to add an agenda item for a council meeting was denied in October.
According to the city’s legal department, “the minority party does not have an unfettered special right to unilaterally add an action item to the council’s agenda,” according to the legal opinion Meek received and shared with Hearst Connecticut Media Group.
The city’s legal department said council members do not have equal ability to add agenda items.
“Individual members of the council do not have an unfettered unilateral right to determine what items should be added to a counsel agenda under the council’s by-laws (as) they currently exist,” the legal opinion’s conclusion read. “Therefore, the subject resolution would not have been properly before the council, and it is my strong opinion that doing so would have a significant adverse prejudicial effect on both the prospect of settlement of this matter, as well as properly prosecuting this case through a trial in the event the case cannot be settled in advance thereof.”
Abigail Brone can be reached at abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com.