NORWALK, Conn. Would you like a mayor who keeps an 8-ball on his desk and has a miniature Sikorsky helicopter high over his head? Or a guy who gives out free samples of the South American philodendron that "surrounded him" and doesn't notice the motion-activated bird noise anymore?
That's your choice, Norwalk, Republican Richard Moccia or Democrat Andy Garfunkel.
"It's typical of what you'll see in most elected official's offices, a collection of memorabilia, personal stuff, city stuff," Moccia said of the room he has occupied for nearly six years. On the wall, near the door, is a framed front page from The Stamford Advocate, marking his first mayoral victory in a "landslide 176 votes."
Garfunkel has a framed page from The Advocate, too, depicting himself in a kingly position the role of the King of Siam in the "King and I." But the many references to his theatrical proclivities are overshadowed by a plant that stretches from a windowsill, across the ceiling and then down the opposite wall. "I surround myself with things that make me comfortable, of course," Garfunkel said. "The plant surrounded itself around me. I didn't plan on that."
It was a normal size when his mother gave it to him nearly 10 years ago, an office-warming gift when he became town clerk. "It has evolved," Garfunkel said. "It helps that this office has the right amount of filtered light." He learned to garden from his father. "That's something that my dad and I always did together. I just have a green thumb I guess," he said.
If Garfunkel gets Moccia's office, city property will come with it. Take Moccia's helicopter, a gift from Sikorsky. "I may leave that for my successor down the road. That was sort of given to the city, so I might leave that," Moccia said, clearly expressing the sentiment that "down the road" should be years away. The helicopter was kept on a table, but that didn't work out when kids came to visit on City Hall tours.
Pictures around the room include shots of his grandchildren, a photo of Moccia with Laura Bush and one of him with the late Chelsea Cohen, a local athlete. Awards sit on the window shelves. Moccia sits opposite his collection of Yankees memorabilia, including an autographed Joe Torre jersey.
Sit opposite Moccia and you'll face a "No Whining" sign that he bought on a drive to New Hampshire just before he began his first term. It still has the $14.99 sticker on the back, and he'll tap it in the course of conversation to say that he's explaining a situation, not whining about it.
He's also pleased with the "Better to shoot off your rifle by mistake than your mouth on purpose" sign he bought in Oklahoma last year while attending an U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting. The 8-ball was a gift from his family on his first inauguration. "It's not working too well," he said. "I don't use it too often."
Garfunkel has pictures of his two children, Pop Warner football teams he has coached, himself with Bill Clinton and a photo of his father swearing him as town clerk, one of the "three best days" of his life. He keeps an art print of the 1899 New York stock market in part because of the raised seal in the lower right corner as town clerk, Garfunkel is the keeper of the seal for Norwalk.
The Oscar-like statuette on a shelf is not a theatrical reference. It's Garfunkel's Joey Award, which he received from the Connecticut Town Clerks Association for "going above and beyond the call of duty."
He has Yankees memorabilia, too, including a sculpture of the 1998 World Series team, a gift. The Fantasia music box sculpture was also a gift, inspired by his longstanding love of Disney art.
Moccia has a musical gift of his own, an Italian Teddy Bear that would sing "Ole Solo Mio" for visiting school children if only he'd remember to bring in one of the "100" 9-volt batteries he has at home. A bound copy of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address sits on a windowsill, a gift from the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting. Kennedy was an "extraordinary man," Moccia said, even if he played for the other team.
If Garfunkel unseats Moccia, he'll resist letting the mayor's office change who he is. "My campaign manager said 'get rid of the plant, it's not very mayoral.'" Garfunkel said. "I said, 'It's my office.'"
He knows that, no matter what, he has to move the monster gift plant, because his time as town clerk is ending. "I've got to take it somewhere," he said. "Hopefully it's just moving it through the building."
Has your child been in Mayor Richard Moccia's office? Have you got a cutting from Town Clerk Andy Garfunkel's plant?
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