Furloughs To Close Town Halls, Fairfield Library

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Fausto Garcia will lock Old Town Hall’s doors Thursday evening, just as he does every weeknight. But when the part-time custodian arrives for work again Friday, he’ll find an unusual sight for a weekday: a mostly empty building. Fairfield’s town halls and libraries will be closed Aug. 19 and Sept. 2 for employee furlough days.

“I’ll come in, do what I have to do, and leave when I want,” Garcia said of his plans for Friday. “Nobody will be here, so it will be a nice four-hour day for me.”

This spring, the Town Hall Employees Association and Fairfield agreed to a contract that included two furlough days. Under the deal, the 84 employees covered by the union will not report to work Friday and Sept. 2. They will not be paid for one of the two days.

The idea is to save the town money. It cuts one day's worth of payroll and could save on utility costs for the four buildings. But the plan won't have much effect on this year’s budget. The town hall employees were the only union to reach such a contract agreement with the town this year. Other unions are still negotiating or did not include furloughs in their deals.

The furloughs don’t apply to department heads or mid-managers, but some decided to take vacation days because their staff members would not be working. Human Resources Director Mary Carroll-Mirylees said the town decided to close Old Town Hall, Sullivan Independence Hall and both branches of the Fairfield Public Library rather than have them operate with most of the staff absent.

“We were worried about the ability to provide adequate services, because those areas are where most town hall employees operate,” Carroll-Mirylees said.

The furlough days will not affect town services that don’t rely on those union employees. The Fairfield Police and Fire Departments, the Emergency Communications Center and Animal Control will operate as they would on any other day. Department of Public Works crews will do their normal weekday work. The Solid Waste and Recycling Center and the Fairfield Senior Center will stay open as well.

The Parks and Recreation Department’s Mill Plain Road headquarters will also stay open on a weekend schedule. Fairfield’s beaches, golf courses and other recreation services will run normally, too. Even book lovers won’t be left out completely — the Pequot Library is a private enterprise, so it will be open.

“All those departments will still function,” Carroll-Mirylees said. “So there will be no impact to essential services.”

What do you think about town hall and the libraries shutting down for furlough days? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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