Lieberman, Blumenthal, Himes protest closure of Norwalk Social Security Office

Senator Joseph Lieberman, Senator Richard Blumenthal and Congressman Jim Himes Wednesday sent a letter to Michael Astrue, the commissioner of the Social Security Administration, expressing serious concerns with the SSA's decision to close the Norwalk Social Security Office and relocate its employees.

On Friday, Jan. 6, their offices were notified by the SSA's Boston Regional Office of its decision to permanently close the Norwalk SSA office on Jan. 31. SSA advised that this decision was made due to non-renewal of its lease and other budgetary concerns. SSA further advised there would be no layoffs, that staff would be relocated to other SSA offices within the Norwalk service area, and that it had no plans to keep staff or a satellite office open in the Norwalk area.

"We are writing today to express our serious concerns with your office's decision to close the Norwalk Social Security Office and relocate its employees to the other local offices within the Norwalk service district. We are united in our objection to this decision and the SSA timeline to close this office without retaining a satellite office or services in Norwalk as this action will place an undue hardship on beneficiaries," the lawmakers stated.

The office services approximately 320 clients per week and operates in a service area of which approximately 45,000 individuals are elderly. In the letter, the lawmakers urge Commissioner Astrue to reconsider the decision to close the Norwalk office and postpone the closure while full review is given to their concerns and those concerns expressed by the community.

"The Norwalk SSA office provides critical services to over 137,000 seniors and disabled individuals, within Norwalk and the following surrounding towns: New Canaan, Ridgefield, Easton, Darien, Weston, Wilton, and Westport. Over 320 individuals visit this office each week, and we are concerned that requiring these clients to move to an alternate service site will not only be an inconvenience to them, but could possibly overwhelm the offices to which these clients will be forced to move. We are very concerned by the number of individuals that will be displaced as a result of this closure, the effect of increased travel time on a disabled population and the potential differences in parking, safety, public transportation and existing volume in the offices slated to serve Norwalk users," the lawmakers stated.

The lawmakers also expressed dismay over an apparent delay in notification of SSA's plans.

"It has been brought to our attention that SSA has been aware of its lease non-renewal and possibility of closing this office since June 2011. This matter, however, was not brought to our attention until Jan. 6, 2012. We are disappointed that the SSA made a decision to close this office over six months ago, yet failed to notify our offices until just three weeks prior to its closing date," the lawmakers stated.