Mayor Harry Rilling (heart) attends a Norwalk Police Fee assembly in 2019. On Monday, he appointed metropolis resident and insurance coverage dealer Tony Lopez to the three-member fee.
Pat Tomlinson / Hearst Connecticut Media /NORWALK — Mayor Harry Rilling on Monday appointed Tony Lopez, an area insurance coverage dealer, to the town’s police fee, ending an almost seven-month search to fill the seat on the oversight physique.
Lopez replaces Kelly Straniti, a Republican who resigned from the three-member fee final summer season earlier than shifting to Virginia. Lopez’ appointment was introduced on the fee’s Monday assembly.
“I’m glad to be on board,” Lopez mentioned. “I sit up for serving with everybody right here.”
Lopez is the proprietor of Liberty Alternative LLC, a Norwalk-based insurance coverage brokerage. He beforehand labored as a guide for the insurance coverage agency Alera Group, in response to his LinkedIn profile web page.
In 2005 and 2007, he unsuccessfully sought a seat on the Widespread Council. He ran as a Republican in every race, in response to metropolis information.
The fee, which meets month-to-month, is charged with overseeing the Norwalk Police Division, together with approving nearly all the division’s new hires. The physique additionally acts as the town’s site visitors authority.
The fee is presently composed of Rilling and longtime Commissioner Fran Collier-Clemmons, who’re each Democrats.