Political balance in Norwalk is not so simple

Every two years, Norwalk holds a municipal election. And every two years, the results are pretty much the same: Democrats sweep virtually everything of significance. Last November, Democrats retained control of the mayor's office, maintained a 15-to-1 majority on the Common Council, and a 9-to-0 majority on the Board of Education.

For the record: I'm a Democrat. Between 1997 and 2019, I served 14 years on the Norwalk Common Council and six years on its BOE. I served on councils with large Republican majorities, and with large Democratic majorities, including from 2001-03, when all 15 council members were Democrats. And I've served on BOEs with and without Republican members.

With such lopsided representation on our major elected bodies, it was no surprise when Republican and Independent candidates made political “balance” a critical issue during the recent campaign. Indeed, the Norwalk Republican website still states that its members are “working to ensure balanced government and change the current narrative of ONE PARTY RULE.” Sounds rather harsh, as if something awful is going on.

I believe a fair number of Democrats are not completely comfortable with the degree to which our party dominates Norwalk politics. But we take exception to the notion that Democrats have done something nefarious. The responsibility for the current configuration of our elected bodies lies solely with the local Republican organization that has refused to adapt to changing national, state, and local circumstances.

The discomfort with supermajorities aside, elections in this country are based primarily on winner-take-all systems. Which means a party could win 50.1 percent of the vote and capture every seat up for grabs. In Norwalk, Democrats have been scoring victories with about 55 percent of the vote. This means that roughly 45 percent of the electorate who regularly vote for the Republicans or Independents have had only a single representative in city government the last few years. Patently unfair, but that's how winner-take-all systems work.

Nonetheless, there are several ways to address this inequity. Proportional representation is a system that allocates representation in proportion to the actual vote. Run-offs and rankedchoice voting are designed to provide voters with more choices and to prevent extremists from winning elections. In Connecticut, many towns have adopted minority-party representation rules that prevent a single party from achieving supermajorities.

Because Norwalk's Common Council and BOE have at-large (citywide) and district (neighborhood) representation, it would be difficult to adopt a minority party representation system; it would work only for our at-large elections. However, it is not the responsibility of the local Democratic organization to initiate this discussion. Nor is it the responsibility of Democrats to revitalize the city's Republican organization. Local Republicans need to look inward, blaming national trends is too easy a way to justify local failures.

Which brings us back to the taxed-but-not-fully-represented 45 percent of the electorate, many of whom have major differences with the Democrats regarding the city's future, especially when it comes to the pace of development and affordable housing. Majority rule is not the same as minority rights, but both concepts should be respected.

In that regard, I believe our elected Democrats should minimize what's called government by caucus, i.e., behind closed doors. Consent calendars, which contain items privately agreed upon and therefore not discussed during open meetings, should be limited. Public debate among the majority should be encouraged. The entire electorate should have a clear idea as to what the Democrats are doing and why.

The Republicans and Independents have different kinds of problems. But it's important to note that 45 percent of the vote is not bad; the problem is the winner-take-all system. Still, I believe local Republicans need to clarify a few issues:

It would be helpful if the local GOP articulated a position on the turmoil afflicting their party nationally, specifically regarding the sanctity of our democratic institutions. This is too important an issue to ignore or finesse. It would be helpful if local Republicans and their supporters stopped characterizing Democrats as lemmings, cowards, or even worse on social media simply because they disagree. And finally, harking back to a not-too-distant past, when the city was allegedly in a better place, well, that just doesn't cut it anymore — especially when participating in winner-takeall-elections.

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