The Fairfield Minuteman is a weekly newspaper in Fairfield that publishes on Thursdays and that began in…More 1995.</p> <p>The<i> Fairfield Minuteman</i> no longer maintains an office in Fairfield; the office for both the <i>Fairfield Minuteman</i> and <i>Westport Minuteman </i>is located at 1175 Post Road East in Westport.</p> <p>The <i>Fairfield Minuteman</i> and <i>Westport Minuteman</i> are owned by the Journal Register Company. On the news side, the <i>Fairfield Minuteman</i> employs one full-time reporter and an editor.</p> <p>The <i>Fairfield Minuteman</i> is free upon request and is sent through the mail or can be picked up in various stores within Fairfield.</p>

The Conservation Department operates under the town Conservation Commission, which consists of 10 volunteers…More appointed by the first selectman.</p> <p>The Conservation Department reviews development applications to determine their impact on wetlands, regulates 7,000 parcels of property that are near wetlands and watercourses, manages 1,173 acres of town-owned open space, facilitates environmental improvements, administers a marsh restoration program, and serves the town Shellfish Commission in its effort to improve public access and opportunities for recreational and commercial shellfishing in Fairfield.</p> <p>The Conservation Department's budget in 2009-10 is $1 million.</p> <p>The Conservation Department is located on the second floor of the Honorable John J. Sullivan Independence Hall, 725 Old Post Road.</p>

The Office of Community & Economic Development develops and administers programs to stimulate and encourage…More economic development; revitalize and strengthen neighborhoods; facilitate and promote affordable housing; and preserve and enhance the overall well-being of the community.</p> <p>The office's economic development activities focus on business retention and expansion, business recruitment, and small business development. Its overarching mission is to create jobs and enhance the town's tax base through appropriate commercial development that preserves the town's historic character and quality of life.</p> <p>The office's community development activities are focused on encouraging homeownership, expanding economic opportunities, maintaining the town's stock of affordable housing, and responding to the needs of the town's low- and moderate-income populations.</p> <p>The office also administers Community Development Block Grant funds received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and it oversees the Downtown Employee Parking Program and streetscape and beautification projects in the central business district and other commercial corridors.</p> <p>The 2009-10 budget for the Office of Community & Economic Development is $188,275.</p> <p>The Office of Community & Economic Development is located on the second floor of Old Town Hall, 611 Old Post Road.</p>

The Registrar of Voters' Office operates impartially to administer fair, transparent and open elections in the…More interests of about 37,000 Fairfield voters.</p> <p>The Registrar of Voters' Office maintains the town voter registry list by adding new voters, making necessary changes to existing voters, such as changes to address and political party, and removing voters who are deceased or otherwise no longer eligible to vote in Fairfield. The office also administers elections by hiring and training poll workers, overseeing Election Day operations, counting absentee ballots, purchasing supplies and maintaining scanner type tabulators, ordering phone lines for communication and the state-mandated handicapped voter system, discarding used ballots and storing used Federal ballots.</p> <p>The Registrar of Voters' Office also disseminates town voter information.</p> <p>The Registrar of Voters' Office consists of two part-time registrars (one Republican, one Democrat) and a full-time secretary. The Republican Registrar is Roger Autuori; the Democratic Registrar is Matthew Waggner.</p> <p>The Registar of Voters' Office's budget in 2009-10 is $225,825. Each part-time registrar is paid $30,725 and is subject to re-election every four years.</p> <p>The Registrar of Voters' Office is on the first floor of Old Town Hall, 611 Old Post Road.</p>

The primary objective of the Assessor's Department is to ensure that each property owner in town bears an appropriate…More share of the property tax burden.</p> <p>The Assessor's Department also oversees townwide revaluations of property; compiles and ensures the Grand List, which is the list of all taxable property in town, is accurate; manages the town's Senior & Totally Disabled Tax Relief Program; conducts field reviews of properties that are newly constructed or remodeled in between the years when revaluations take place; and updates valuations on a database of properties in town.</p> <p>The Assessor's Department's budget in 2009-10 is $861,218.</p> <p>The Assessor's Department is located on the first floor of Old Town Hall, 611 Old Post Road.</p>

The Legal Services Department consists of a town attorney and three assistant town attorneys.

Town Attorney…More Richard H. Saxl, who has a practice in Westport, and three assistant town attorneys are legal advisors of, and counsel and attorneys for, the town and all town departments and town officials. They provide legal services in matters relating to the town's interests and the official duties and powers of town officials except for matters covered by insurance or under the purview of the Board of Education.</p> <p>Saxl and assistant town attorneys prepare and review contracts, furnish written legal opinions, appear for the town in litigation and actions brought against the town, and settle suits involving claims for money against the town at the direction of the Board of Selectmen or, in the case of land-use appeals, by conferring with the appropriate board or commission.</p> <p>The Legal Services Department's budget in 2009-10 is $512,700.</p> <p>The town attorney does not maintain an office in a Fairfield government building. An assistant town attorney has an office in Old Town Hall, 611 Old Post Road.</p>