Fairfield Iowa IA Warrant Search

Fairfield, Iowa Fairfield is a city and county seat of Jefferson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,509 as of the 2000 census. History Fairfield was the site of the first and second Iowa State Fair. The first fair was held October 25–27, 1854 on 6 acres (24,000 m2) of land surrounded by a 10-foot-high (3.0 m) fence. The total cost to hold the fair was around $320, and public admission was 25 cents per person. It is estimated that between 7,000 and 10,000 fair goers attended this historical event. Geography Fairfield's geography is typical of the great plains of the American Midwest: around the city is rolling farmland specializing in corn, soybeans, cattle and hogs. Running west-east through the city is U.S. Route 34; the city of Burlington is to the east and Ottumwa to the west. North-South is Iowa Highway 1, leading north to Iowa City and south to the Missouri state border.According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.9 square miles (15.2 km²), of which, 5.7 square miles (14.9 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (2.21%) is water. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 9,509 people, 4,063 households, and 2,372 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,657.4 people per square mile (639.6/km²). There were 4,463 housing units at an average density of 777.9/sq mi (300.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.35% White, 0.99% African American, 0.16% Native American, 2.53% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.73% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.64% of the population.There were 4,063 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.2% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.6% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.90.In the city, the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 30.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.The median income for a household in the city was $31,202, and the median income for a family was $46,138. Males had a median income of $34,750 versus $24,830 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,673. About 10.1% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.There are 4,437 total housing units in Fairfield, 33.3% were built before 1939, 20.4% between 1940 and 1959, 12.7 between 1960 and 1969, 9.2 between 1970 and 1979, 15.5 between 1980 and 1989, 4.6 between 1990 and 1994, 2.5 between 1995 and 1998, and 1.8 between 1998 and 1999. The median home value in Fairfield is $73,200. Adjacent subdivisions Subdivisions that border Fairfield include Cypress Villages, a 145-acre (0.59 km2) subdivision under development as a 'green' community using principles of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda to the north of the city, and Abundance ecovillage, an off-the-grid community north of Fairfield. The Fairfield City Council declined petitions for annexation from Cypress Villages. In addition, nearby Maharishi Vedic City, located two miles north of Fairfield, began as a subdivision and incorporated as a city in 2001. Economy In 1990, Iowa Governor, Terry Branstad, called the town 'one of the state's economic superstars'. A 1997 report said the town had a significant number of entrepreneur businesses including a tofu company, several software firms, a chimney supplies wholesaler, wholefoods grocery store, an oil brokerage, and a telecommunications company. These new companies were reported in 1999 to have 'created up to 1,500 jobs in high tech businesses ranging from telecommunications companies to Internet providers to PC-oriented magazines'. Later, the town was dubbed 'Silicorn Valley' because of the preponderance of new businesses that were Internet and information based.A 2003 report by the National Center for Small Communities selected Fairfield as a recipient of the The Grassroots Rural Entrepreneurship Award, saying that the city 'has become recognized as one the nation’s most entrepreneurial small towns.' The report said that Fairfield had created over 2,000 jobs in the previous 15 years and that new construction averages $10 million per year. It also received the Iowa Entrepreneurial City Award in 2004 from Iowa State University.[citation needed]In 2008, the town was the 'home of 40 software development and telecom companies'. According to a 2009 report from the University of Iowa's Community Vitality Center, Fairfield has had more than $250 million invested in 50 companies since 2009. These companies have included various financial services as well as marketing, software development and telecom businesses. This has created 3000 local jobs plus '12,000 jobs globally, and nearly $1 billion in new equity'. Arts and culture Fairfield's library was established in 1853, and was the first library in the state of Iowa. It was first housed in a rented room off the city square. The Carnegie building on the corner of Washington and Court streets became its home in 1893. Then in May 1996, the library moved to its present location on West Adams Street. The library has over 220,000 items and received accreditation from the State Library of Iowa in 2009.Fairfield is the home of Maharishi University of Management, formerly known as Maharishi International University (MIU), which bought the former Parsons College in 1974. Fairfield has been called a 'national magnet' for practitioners of Transcendental Meditation (TM), and 'the world's largest training center' for TM. Many residents moved there to participate in the group practice of the TM-Sidhi program at the university's two golden domes. Maharishi Vedic City, conceived by the Maharishi and incorporated by a group of his followers in 2001, is located a few miles north of Fairfield. Locally, TM practitioners are called 'roos', slang for gurus, a term they have appropriated, although they also refer to themselves as 'meditators'. Fairfield natives are known as 'townies'.In 2006, the town was named one of the '12 Great Places You've Never Heard Of' by Mother Earth News magazine citing its ayurvedic health spa, high amount of restaurants per capita and 25 art galleries, characterizing it as a 'sustainable and cosmopolitan town'. In addition, on the first Friday night of every month, Fairfield plays host to 1st Fridays Art Walk, which attracts visitors from all over the Midwest. The art walk showcases many local artists in various galleries and business-galleries around the downtown area. In the warmer months, live musical performances can be heard in multiple locations throughout the evening. In 2005 it was named Iowa's Tourism Event of the Year.Fairfield has a community of artists and is home to the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center (FACC), a new Civic Center. Included in the Civic Center is the Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts, which opened December 7–10, 2007 with seven famous Broadway stars: Liz Callaway, Len Cariou, Donna Lynne Champlin, Kristin Huffman, Richard Kind, David Malis, and Pamela Myers, all of whom are connected in some way with Stephen Sondheim's plays such as, Sweeney Todd, Company, Assassins, and Into the Woods. The center was the first theater in the world named after Stephen Sondheim. Another Sondheim theater now exists in London.[citation needed]In 2009, a concert by The Beach Boys and The Nadas was held on the Fairfield Middle School grounds, as a benefit for the FACC and the city's Green Sustainability Plan. The concert was sponsored by the David Lynch Foundation. This was the 40th, and final performance of The Beach Boy's summer tour of 2009.In 2006, the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs has designated Fairfield as one of the Iowa Great Places. Fairfield was selected by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs to be one of six Iowa Great Places to participate in new program to revitalize the cultural arts in 2010. Landmarks The early architecture in Fairfield included Victorian houses such as one designed by George Franklin Barber as well a 1915 house designed by Barry Byrne, who trained under Frank Lloyd Wright. A 1930s bank building was designed in the Streamline Moderne style. Commercial and institutional architecture were influenced by the Louden Industries, including the Louden Foundry. Fairfield is the site of the oldest Carnegie library in the United States west of Pennsylvania. The grant effort was spurred by Senator, James F. Wilson. The Richardsonian Romanesque work is now operated by Indian Hills Community College as a satellite campus building, as a new library was built in 1996.After Parsons College closed and the campus was purchased by Maharishi University of Management in 1974, some new construction was influenced by a Vedic style of architecture. Many homes and commercial buildings in and around the city are built according to Maharishi Sthapatya Veda principles, which include a requirement that entrances face due east or due north. Businesses and homeowners have boarded up entrances that face in inauspicious directions (south or west). Government Fairfield is governed by a seven-member city council headed by a mayor. The current mayor, Ed Malloy, was first elected in 2001. Mayoral terms are two years. City council members serve staggered four-year terms. The council consists of one representative from each of the city's five wards, plus two at-large representatives. As of 2009, city council members are Susan Silvers (at large), Myron Gookin (at large), Ron Adam (Ward 1), John Revolinski (Ward 2), Ray Mottet (Ward 3), Michael Halley (Ward 4), and Daryn Hamilton (Ward 5). Fairfield's City Administrator is Jeff Clawson. Sustainability Fairfield's grassroots efforts to create a sustainable community that focuses on reducing energy and protecting resources have been supported by a position created by Iowa State University extension services and the City of Fairfield.Fairfield's mayor, Ed Malloy, was named by MSN.com to a nationwide list of 15 'green' mayors. Malloy describes the city's agenda for sustainability as aggressive, and includes a Green Strategic Plan covering everything from conservation, local farms, local food, alternative transportation, and bike paths and trails. The hope, according to Malloy, is that Fairfield will become a model community and a 'virtual template' for small cities interested in creating a sustainable city environment. The city received an $80,000 grant from Iowa's Office of Energy Independence to hire a program coordinator, collect data and create a sustainability plan to be completed in 2020.The town hosts an annual Eco-Fair and has more solar energy homes and green building than any other Iowa town. Fairfield's KRUU-LP is said to be the only radio station in the USA that uses solar energy for its operations and radio signal. Dog ordinance The city has an ordinance that defines several breeds of dogs, including Doberman Pincher, Pit Bull, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, Siberian Husky, Malamute and any other dog weighing over 100 pounds as dangerous animals. The ordinance includes a number of special provisions and requirements but has an exception which allows owners to walk listed dogs if the leash is no more than four feet long and the collar includes current vaccinations tags. Education The Fairfield Community School District is home nearly 2,500 students, teachers, administrators and staff, with three elementary schools (Pence Elementary, Washington Elementary, and Libertyville Elementary), a middle school, and a 3A high school. The high school has approximately 630 students and 75 staff members. The current high school building was built in 1939 on 23.2 acres (94,000 m2). The total cost of the construction was approximately $550,000. In 1984, an addition to the school provided a commons area, new library, new kitchen, a counseling office, and an expansion of the gymnasium. In the 2001-2002 school year, the district added a new transportation building.Fairfield also has two private schools, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment and Fairfield Christian School. The town is home to Maharishi University of Management, a private university which moved to Fairfield in 1974.In 2010, Lincoln Elementary school closed, due to budget cuts. Also, all 5th grade classes were moved to the Fairfield Middle School. The Fairfield school board voted to use building for Fairfield High School's alternative school in 2010-11. Radio Stations KHOE90.5FM KKFD-FM95.9FM KRUU-LP100.1FM KMCD1570AM Transportation The nearest international commercial airport is in Cedar Rapids, approximately 90 miles (145 km) to the north. Fairfield has a small airport north of town, which was built in 1967 and renovated in 2006. The Fairfield Municipal Airport is a general use, public airport. It offers 5,550 feet (1,690 m) of concrete runway. Bus service to Fairfield is provided by Greyhound Lines affiliates Jefferson Lines and Burlington Trailways.Amtrak carries passengers west-east on the California Zephyr, with passenger stations in Mount Pleasant, (25 miles to the east) and Ottumwa (20 miles to the west). Rail service is by Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BSNF) railway.The Rock Island Line also passed through Fairfield, but closed in the late 1970s. The old steel trestle has been removed from its crossing, and the walking trail that circumnavigates the city uses part of the old roadbed.Evidence of other long forgotten rail lines can be found in the woods around the city. A section of narrow gauge roadbed can be found cutting its way through Whitham Woods, a park on Fairfield's western edge. Notable people Richard Beymer, actor Buddy Biancalana, former Major League Baseball player[citation needed] Greg Brown, folk musician Ron Cochran, television journalist Flavia Colgan, political contributor onMSNBC[citation needed] Joe Crail, (1877–1938) formerCalifornia House of Representativesmember Walter Day, founder ofTwin Galaxies Ashley Deans, head of Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment Dave Despain, auto racing commentator onSPEED Jon Foster, actor John Hagelin, quantum physicist, three-time United States Presidential candidate Milo Hamilton, baseball announcer Harry Harlow,psychologist Claire Hoffman, journalist Mitch Kapor, founder ofElectronic Frontier Foundationand was the first chair of theMozilla Foundation Bob Krause, Iowa state representative F. Dickinson Letts, federal judge Pamela Levy, painter[citation needed] Moses A. McCoid, U.S. Representative from Iowa Bevan Morris, president of Maharishi University of Management David Orme-Johnson, TM researcher Claude R. Porter, member of theIowa General Assembly,United States Attorney David Rosenboom, (1947-xxxx) composer Mary Ruthsdotter, feminist activist Chad Setterstrom, National Football League player Francis Thicke, dairy farmer, candidate forIowa Secretary of Agriculture Hays B. White, former Kansas House of Representatives member Robert Williamson Steele, Governor of theTerritory of Jefferson James F. Wilson, United States Senator