The Hour
Helping NEON help the community
Published May 19 2006, The Advocate
We hope Joseph Mann has big shoulders.
The agency he is taking over, Norwalk Economic Opportunity
Now, has been in
turmoil for too long. Problems with the government, turnover at
key positions, sparring and secrecy among board members -- all have detracted from
the agency's driving mission.
Founded in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson's War on
Poverty, NEON provides services to South Norwalk's poorest
residents. Its many employees run the city's Head Start
program, plus day-care, job training, housing and energy assistance programs.
Their work is hard enough. It doesn't help to have extra challenges come from within.
That is the weight Mr. Mann takes on as he assumes the position of NEON executive
director. His ability to manage it will greatly influence NEON's performance in the future.
Mr. Mann, who is a longtime NEON employee, is leaving another position of high
responsibility -- a seat in the state House of Representatives -- to take over the director's
post. That decision may be an indicator he is the strong leader NEON needs.
He will replace former Executive Director Michael Callis, who resigned in March, little more
than two years into a three-year contract, in order to care for his ailing mother. Mr. Callis
was hired after a year-long, stop-and-start effort to replace Robert Burgess, who ran the
agency for 30 years.
Mr. Callis' departure was one of three hits the agency took at the turn of this year. First,
Finance Director Ken Casanova was fired. Then Mr. Callis and Carlin Hill, who was interim
director of NEON's child-care programs, announced they were leaving in quick succession.
Neither the child-care nor the economic post has been filled.
But departing staff has not been NEON's only trouble. Mr. Casanova's dismissal in part was
fallout from a federal government decision last May to revoke the agency's Head Start
grant because of deficient fiscal management. NEON won an appeal in November that
allowed it to keep Head Start after a federal panel ruled the agency had corrected
problems and that one citation against it was not fair.
But the trauma of that drawn-out process was exacerbated by the legal troubles of
then-Chairwoman Jean Hill, who had failed to pay back money she stole from the Norwalk
Police Athletic League in the early '90s.
What followed was a contentious process to replace her, resulting in Common Councilman
Carvin Hilliard's election as chairman. The time since has been marked by infighting and
complaints by some board members that they were being deprived of information,
particularly regarding Mr. Mann's contract. One said she felt "attacked" for asking a
question about Mr. Mann's salary.
(Mr. Hilliard is currently seeking the Democratic nomination to replace Mr. Mann in the
Legislature.)
Some board members have admitted that infighting has been going on for years.
Member Joanne Romano probably put it best. "The community has needs, and it needs
us," she said, "and fighting ourselves is not helping the community."
Mr. Mann can't fix the board alone. They are the bosses after all, and they have to do most
of that work for themselves. But he can bring an air of stability to the agency, especially if
he stays in the job for a while.
Ms. Romano is right. The city needs NEON. All those responsible for running it should look
to this moment as a new start, and commit anew to giving the city what it needs.
Helping NEON help the community
Published May 19 2006, The Advocate
We hope Joseph Mann has big shoulders.
The agency he is taking over, Norwalk Economic Opportunity
Now, has been in
turmoil for too long. Problems with the government, turnover at
key positions, sparring and secrecy among board members -- all have detracted from
the agency's driving mission.
Founded in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson's War on
Poverty, NEON provides services to South Norwalk's poorest
residents. Its many employees run the city's Head Start
program, plus day-care, job training, housing and energy assistance programs.
Their work is hard enough. It doesn't help to have extra challenges come from within.
That is the weight Mr. Mann takes on as he assumes the position of NEON executive
director. His ability to manage it will greatly influence NEON's performance in the future.
Mr. Mann, who is a longtime NEON employee, is leaving another position of high
responsibility -- a seat in the state House of Representatives -- to take over the director's
post. That decision may be an indicator he is the strong leader NEON needs.
He will replace former Executive Director Michael Callis, who resigned in March, little more
than two years into a three-year contract, in order to care for his ailing mother. Mr. Callis
was hired after a year-long, stop-and-start effort to replace Robert Burgess, who ran the
agency for 30 years.
Mr. Callis' departure was one of three hits the agency took at the turn of this year. First,
Finance Director Ken Casanova was fired. Then Mr. Callis and Carlin Hill, who was interim
director of NEON's child-care programs, announced they were leaving in quick succession.
Neither the child-care nor the economic post has been filled.
But departing staff has not been NEON's only trouble. Mr. Casanova's dismissal in part was
fallout from a federal government decision last May to revoke the agency's Head Start
grant because of deficient fiscal management. NEON won an appeal in November that
allowed it to keep Head Start after a federal panel ruled the agency had corrected
problems and that one citation against it was not fair.
But the trauma of that drawn-out process was exacerbated by the legal troubles of
then-Chairwoman Jean Hill, who had failed to pay back money she stole from the Norwalk
Police Athletic League in the early '90s.
What followed was a contentious process to replace her, resulting in Common Councilman
Carvin Hilliard's election as chairman. The time since has been marked by infighting and
complaints by some board members that they were being deprived of information,
particularly regarding Mr. Mann's contract. One said she felt "attacked" for asking a
question about Mr. Mann's salary.
(Mr. Hilliard is currently seeking the Democratic nomination to replace Mr. Mann in the
Legislature.)
Some board members have admitted that infighting has been going on for years.
Member Joanne Romano probably put it best. "The community has needs, and it needs
us," she said, "and fighting ourselves is not helping the community."
Mr. Mann can't fix the board alone. They are the bosses after all, and they have to do most
of that work for themselves. But he can bring an air of stability to the agency, especially if
he stays in the job for a while.
Ms. Romano is right. The city needs NEON. All those responsible for running it should look
to this moment as a new start, and commit anew to giving the city what it needs.
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