The Winning Ways of Greenwich Sentinel Awardee Steve Walko – In State, In Town
By Anne W. Semmes
There is no doubt that Stephen “Steve” Walko, as a chosen “Super Lawyer of Connecticut” has standout skills as an arbitrator in his law firm Ivey, Barnum, and O’Mara where he serves as a managing partner. He has a gift for getting people to work together. “I try to tell my children all the time to listen more and talk less,” he tells, “There’s always two sides to the story. A lot of times there’s three or four sides to the story… We’re so focused on trying to combat what the other person is saying or contest it as opposed to thinking up better ideas. If you say it’s blue and I say it’s red, well, maybe it is purple and maybe purple is the way to go.”
But he adds, “You shouldn’t always compromise things that you firmly believe in. But you have to make sure you truly believe in whatever you’re standing up for. Because when you’re so strident about everything…it’s harder to move even your own agendas forward.”
“Steve is thoughtful, calm, and optimistic when under pressure.” Former First Selectman Jim Lash.
Even before Walko served as State Representative of his Byram District 10 he was chosen by then Governor Jodi Rell as a Public Member of the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration. That Board he says “was part of the executive branch…a part of the Department of Labor.” For Walko, in the labor and employment sector “the way to go” he believed was arbitration and mediation. “When you’re arbitrating a case for someone who lost their job and their job is the most important thing to them in the moment, it’s important to get it right and it’s important to give them a quick and speedy process, and that’s what arbitration’s allowed to do for them.”
Even so at his law firm, he says, “Ivey Barnum is like a family, we try hard to represent our clients so that if they have to go to court, we get them to court, we get them out of court as quickly as possible. But there are alternatives like mediation and there are some very good mediators out there, both in the court system and privately, who can help people negotiate their own settlements.”
Serving as a State Representative, he found it “amazing being able to set a law” he tells, “especially as a practicing attorney and a practicing litigator… You look at the legislative history of why a statute was enacted. So being on the other side of that was tremendous.” But “like most legislative systems” there was fixing needing to be done. And that fixing takes time when, “you can’t take the time to go up to Hartford because you have to be there some weeks, almost every day, over several months…But it’s getting almost impossible for everyday people to be representatives because they can’t take that time out of work.”
And didn’t Walko have those skills working with his own community and getting people to work together? And surely those skills would be advantageous with those sometime contentious building committees for the town’s public schools. It would be a learning curve for Walko – and be inspirational.
“So, the first building committee that I was on was Hamilton Avenue,” he tells, “and they needed a BET representative, and I was on the BET at the time. And it was fascinating to learn what were the processes to build an effectively commercial building, in this case, a school… What were the decisions, what were good policies, what were bad policies?” In the end, that process he found “not very successful,” but “At the end of the day, the kids ultimately got a new school.”
Up next was the need for a new New Lebanon School. “First of all I grew up in Byram,” says Walko, “and it’s a community that I cherish. “On top of that,” he adds, “building a new school and lending some support to what is and was a magnificent project, helping to just navigate the waters of everybody involved, whether it be government, local, state, the contractors, the owner’s rep, the architects, the community,” he found “electric.”
“To build something that will last and will have a direct impact on little kids and how they then go out in the world is pretty profound,” he notes. “And while you don’t think of it in the moment,” when it’s all about bricks, and mortar, and carpets, “and then you see what those children have today, it’s pretty significant. And will it help every single kid? Probably not. Will it make their experience over the years that they’re in elementary school better? Absolutely. Will it improve test scores? It certainly can’t hurt. And was it there to help racial imbalance in the town of Greenwich? Well, at least that was the goal.”
“Steve was the chair of the New Lebanon School building committee, and that beautiful building was constructed on time and within budget. Throughout all his volunteer activities, Steve does it with common sense, an open and frank manner while demonstrating true leadership. He is an inspiration to work with and a true friend to me” Larry Simon, Community Leader.
Steve had praise for the “great people” serving on that New Leb building committee and cites the town of Greenwich for its “vast amount of talent and people willing to give that talent.” He describes himself “not a shy person, for sure,” but also “not a big fan of ego. I just think it takes a lot of people to do a lot of things in town. Even the way we set up our government, the First Selectmen only has so much power and then it migrates out to people like the BET, the Planning and Zoning. So, while we look to leaders, and I’m a firm believer in this, it’s so much more than that to be successful. And New Lab is successful, because of the people who were there, including the architects and the professionals.”
And lastly his serving on the building committee of the new Greenwich High School entryway, is in process. “It’s a much smaller project,” he says. “So, building projects are one way to stay involved without necessarily having to be as active as I once was. There’s a beginning of a project and there’s an end, and then hopefully you look at your results as a good result for the school, and you’re able to say thank you to everyone involved, and then you walk away because you’re done. And that’s the part of it that I like right now.”
“At this point,” he concludes, “I’ve been involved in most aspects of town government. So, I hope that I’ve built friendships and relationships with those in and around government able to understand why certain decisions are made and not made.”
Steve was incredibly helpful to me when I had some legal questions involving a not for profit. He was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. Steve is professional and wise and a wonderful leader. He has impacted our community in so many wonderful ways! Icy Frantz.
All the while Walko has for the ninth year retained his title of Super Lawyer. How does he manage to do all these essentially volunteer efforts in town – and count in he serves on the United Way project committee! He replies, “First and foremost, I have the best wife in the world, Alexandra. I also have great partners here at Ivey Barnum. They were supportive and I don’t think you can get that in most work environments.”
And “In terms of the home aspect of it, he adds, “I couldn’t do any of this without Alex. And, as my kids got older, now I get to talk to them as adults, and if collectively we don’t want something done, we don’t do it. So, I don’t really think of it as me. I think of it as us.”
