Editor’s note: Following is a letter sent to First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, and submitted to the Westport Journal for publication.
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Recent legislation mandating that Westport consolidate its transit district with one of three existing adjacent districts provides an opportunity to remedy what has been a Quixotic experiment with an underfunded single-town district, which is not professionally managed.
It now behooves us to make a choice among Norwalk, Bridgeport or CT Transit districts, and in order to make an informed decision, we should be meeting with each of them to explore how Westport can be integrated into their existing operations, and to assure that Westport has a seat at the table, a voice and a vote whenever decisions are made.
In order that Westport may be prepared to meet with the neighboring transit districts and to plead its case, I am requesting that you schedule a public meeting without delay, to include, in addition to yourselves, Transit Director Peter Gold, the chief of police and the chair of the RTM Transit Committee; that you take into account public comment offered at that meeting; and that you appoint a delegation of not less than three to enter into discussions with the neighboring districts and to report on those discussions and make a recommendation to whomever in town government is charged with deciding the issue.
Respectfully,
Larry Weisman
Westport
As the sole Director of the Westport Transit District until the recent appointment of Karina Betfarhad as the second Director, I have been having informal discussions regarding a merger with both the Greater Bridgeport Transit District and the Norwalk Transit District, as well as former Directors of the Westport Transit District among others, almost since the state statute encouraging–but not mandating–a merger was enacted.
State law sets out how many directors we would have in the event of any merger but many other items, including those mentioned by Mr. Weisman, will, of course, be considered.
The Westport Transit District, either alone or in connection with other bodies such as the RTM Transit Committee, will have a properly noticed public meeting to solicit public input on all issues in connection with a potential merger at a date to be determined some time this fall.
In the meantime, should Mr. Weisman or anyone else have thoughts or ideas they wish to share regarding a potential merger I encourage them to send me an email at pgold@westportct.gov. While not required, it would be help me keep track of all such emails if “WTD Merger” was the subject line.