Fairfield City Council honors Michael Halley with plaque

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield Mayor Connie Boyer took a moment during Monday’s City Council meeting to honor council member Michael Halley for his service on the council.

“We really appreciate all the work you’ve put in, and I think Michael has been one of the hardest working council members,” Boyer said. “[We] wish you the best of luck in your move to Iowa City.”

Monday was going to be Halley’s final council meeting, capping his 12 years on the council after his election to represent the city’s Fourth Ward (downtown) in 2009. After thanking Halley for “going above and beyond” the duties of a city council member, she presented him with a plaque honoring his service. Cake was served at the conclusion of the meeting.

Halley announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election, and later revealed it was because he planned to move to Iowa City the following year to be closer to his children enrolled at the University of Iowa.

At the end of the meeting, Halley reflected on his 12 years as a council member. When he joined the council in January 2010, the city was between city administrators, so council members had to pick up the slack. Halley was handed a $500,000 energy efficiency project to manage, and took a lead in helping Fairfield implement its railroad Quiet Zone. He remarked that, of all the projects he helped with, the Quiet Zone was the one that stood out as the one he’s most proud of.

The city’s Quiet Zoon took effect in the fall of 2012. Since Fairfield became a Quiet Zone, trains do not blow their horns when traveling through town unless there is construction near the track or the conductor sees someone too close to it. To become a Quiet Zone, the city had to build 2-foot wide and 10-inch tall medians spanning 100 feet north and south of all railroad crossings. The project cost about a quarter-million dollars, most of which came from private donations.

Halley said other projects he was glad to play a leading role in were the installation of permanent picnic tables in Central Park, the Lamson Woods Management Plan and the electric vehicle charging station planned for North Second Street.

“When my younger son was in junior high, he said that kids would call other kids ‘try hards’ as an insult,” Halley said. “But I see being a ‘try hard’ as a badge of honor. That’s my request to everybody in the city: try harder. You don’t have to try a lot harder, but you can always learn a little more about city government.”

Halley narrowly missed becoming the city’s mayor in 2019 when he lost that race by just two votes. Halley led Boyer by one vote after the votes were tallied on election night, but an absentee vote for Boyer came in before the deadline, and a subsequent recount gave her two more.