Fairfield Noise Ordinance Information Session Canceled: UPDATE

FAIRFIELD, CT — An informational session about the proposed noise ordinance in Fairfield has been canceled over Freedom of Information Act concerns, according to Representative Town Meeting member Jill Vergara, District 7, who organized the event. The event had been scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday on Zoom.

Vergara told Patch that she decided to cancel the session after she spoke with Fairfield Town Attorney James Baldwin, who "warned me that this info session will somehow violate FOIA's meeting requirements."

"Even though I see this as a First Amendment issue, as this information session was being held by me individually (and was not being held by the RTM), similar to my right to hold a Facebook Live meeting with constituents with or without other RTM members; I do not want to go against the town's counsel, and I do not want to risk having a FOIA complaint filed against me," Vergara said.

In June, the RTM narrowly voted along party lines to delay action on the proposal, in part because Vergara, a Democrat and the driving force behind the proposal, said she believed the public needed more education on the issue.

Click here for the proposed changes to the town's noise ordinance.

Instead of the session, Vergara said she "will record the presentation that I had planned to give at this information session" and disseminate it.