Murphy Swings through Norwalk. Talks of a NEON Fix, Jumpstarting Redevelopment

US Senator Chris Murphy stopped by the Family Diner in Norwalk on Monday to meet with soon-to-be sworn in Mayor Rilling and State Senator Bob Duff.
 
Outside the diner, Rilling said he's prepared to deal with the troubles at Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now, "NEON," but that he hopes to move on quickly and set in motion redevelopment projects for the City, which he said will, in turn, help build Norwalk's tax base, because "Norwalk homeowners are shouldering a significant tax burden for services that they are not receiving."

Murphy apologized for bringing the conversation back to NEON, but issued a reminder that the majority of the anti-poverty agency's funding comes from the federal government. "There will have to  be significant personnel changes for the federal government to have confidence in running federal programming through NEON," Murphy said, adding that Rilling is taking office  "at the right time but also a very difficult time."

"NEON needs new direction. The Mayor's office needs new direction, and hopefully together the Mayor's office and NEON can make the case to their federal partners that this is an agency that can serve the people in Norwalk for the long run," Murphy said, adding that in the short run, he hopes to get an interim service provider into the Head Start space before the end of the week. 

Though the topic of NEON dominated the shared press conference, Murphy, Rilling and Duff all seemed eager to move on.

"We need a proactive agenda for economic development for Norwalk. And the most important way the federal government can help is with transportation dollars," said Murphy, who spoke of Norwalk "feeding off the economic engine of New York City."

Murphy said he was impressed that Rilling's campaign focused on economic development and encouraged Rilling to visit Washington.

"It makes a big difference when mayors from Connecticut cities come down to Washington to present their case. Me, Senator Blumenthal, Jim Himes and I can only do so much. But where cities have succeeded in getting grants from Washington, it's in part because their mayors have been down there presenting a strong case for their cities."

"We'd certainly encourage Harry to come to Hartford as well," Duff said, adding that the top of Rilling's agenda will no doubt be sorting out the troubles with NEON, but that longterm his focus will be on redevelopment.

"I've know Chris for a long time," Duff said of Murphy. "We both served in the state legislature ...He's a fighter and I appreciate the fight and what he's doing for us in the city of Norwalk."