People who live in any of the 23 towns and cities in Fairfield County and have yet to participate in early voting will soon head to the polls on Election Day, which is Tuesday.
Some residents will be casting ballots that may have an impact on everything from the direction their communities take, to who represents them. They will also weigh in on specific questions surrounding civil service reform, and whether they should bother issuing public notices to local newspapers.
These are some of the questions up for a vote on ballots.
Bethel
Bethel, a town has the most revisions up for a vote in Fairfield County. will be voted on in Bethel this election season. Some of them include raising the threshold for referendums on capital expenditure and infrastructure projects which are not funded through user fees, grants, or loans, from at least $1 million and up, according to Republican Bethel First Selectman Dan Carter. Other changes include lengthening the board of selectmen鈥檚 terms from two to four years, and including more inclusive gender pronouns when referring to people in the town charter.
Bridgeport
Voters in 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 largest city can Key proposals include ending the practice of electing city and town clerks. Instead, those roles would be switched to civil service positions, starting in 2031. The Bridgeport鈥檚 Sheriff鈥檚 Office would be eliminated, partly because according to the charter revision proposal, state marshals are able to perform the same roles and protect the city from potential lawsuits.
Other proposals include strengthening the Ethics Commission to include a municipal ethics office and adopt a code of ethics. Many Bridgeport officials have been accused of various legal and ethical transgressions over the years, including the 2023 mayoral Democratic primary, tainted by allegations of ballot fraud.
Fairfield
Fairfield residents are heading to the ballot box, Voters will be asked to answer a question on the ballot that would revise the town charter by mandating any selectman filling a vacancy during their first 18 months of their term to stand for election to serve the remaining two years.
That change could impact future first selectmen finding themselves in a similar position to current First Selectman, Christine Vitale. Former Democratic First Selectman Bill Gerber, elected in 2023, died in office earlier this year, succeeded by Vitale, his running mate in a process many town Republicans claimed was not transparent. Vitale denied those claims, saying she followed the town charter. Vitale is expecting to face off against Republican State Sen. Tony Hwang in a future special election. They are not on the ballot this November.
Other changes include ceasing publishing notices in local newspapers unless required by state law, instead publishing them on the town鈥檚 site and allowing the town鈥檚 legislative body, the Representative Town Meeting, to vote on whether to retain lawyers.
Norwalk
Voters in Norwalk for The city鈥檚 charter revision commission said the charter needed to be changed to reflect the rapid changes the city experienced over the last decades.
Some of those changes include renaming Norwalk鈥檚 legislative body from the Common Council to the City Council, tying councilmember compensation to a percentage of the mayor鈥檚 annual salary, and lengthening the mayor and city clerk鈥檚 terms from two to four years starting in 2029. City council positions would also be extended beginning in 2030
The language of the charter could also be revised to make it more comprehensible for city residents.
Other key changes also include making it easier to introduce petitions, and using a public applicant pool to fill city board and commission vacancies.
Trumbull
Trumbull but it's a question that has inflamed local opinion and that鈥檚 whether or not Trumbull should fork over to build a new senior/community center that has been in the planning stages for years. .
Supporters of a new center include the local Democratic Party i, who stated the benefits of a new structure and the value it would bring over time, noting the alternative, renovating the existing center isn鈥檛 feasible due to its age.
Town Republicans who regained control of the town council two years ago, was too costly. They responded by which resulted in a smaller design, although that process
