FAIRFIELD — Three councilors joined forces to restructure Town Council leadership Wednesday night, with newly elected Timothy Martin taking over from Matthew Townsend as chairman.

Wednesday’s organizational meeting began with the annual election of officers among the five councilors, vying for council chairman, vice chairman and secretary positions.

Martin won three votes for chairman, with Peter Lawrence and newly elected Matthew Tulley in support, along with his own vote. Lawrence and Tulley went on to win vice chairman and secretary, respectively, with the same 3-2 vote.

Of the three new officers elected last night, only Lawrence has previously served on the council. Stephanie Thibodeau, the incumbent vice chairman, lost her bid for reelection, only winning Townsend’s vote.

After the vote, which took less than 3 minutes, the councilors found their new seats around the table with Martin at the helm.

Martin, beginning a three-year term on the council, said at the meeting that his goal as chairman is to listen before speaking.

“My goal is to run the meeting,” Martin said. “I don’t have any agendas, I have a very open mind, want to listen. One of the things I’ve learned in my public service is to listen before speaking, so I hope I can bring a different ear.”

His previous public service includes sitting as chairman on the Fairfield Budget Committee, where he served for six years, as well as terms on town committees that include the Board of Assessment Review, the Economic and Community Development Committee and Charter Revision Committee.

Tulley, who is new to town government, will fill a two-year term. He said at the meeting that a successful council has to be able to work together.

“I think it’s going to be a good year as long as we can work together and try to do the best we can for the town,” Tulley said.

That positivity was echoed by Townsend, who served as chairman for two years and was recently reelected for a second three-year council term. Townsend said he thinks Martin will do a great job as chairman, and that he is looking forward to participating in future conversations with the council.

“Being a chairman of a council helps sometimes in communication, but otherwise it’s just one other member of the council,” Townsend said. “And so I feel that I’ve done a good job as chair getting through some times that were a little difficult, and I’m happy with that. I was reelected overwhelmingly to be on the council, so I know I’m well respected, and that my viewpoints will still be a big part of the council.”

After the councilors found their new seats, Martin went through the rest of the agenda, wrapping up the meeting with an announcement of the council’s next regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22.

His final comment to those in attendance focused on moving away from Fairfield’s past negativity on social media.

“Social media has been very difficult, not only on the past board, but even our employees — I hate reading negative comments about our town,” Martin said. “I hope to bring a little bit of ease there, positive reassurance that we’re all in this together, and I really look forward to having a good year.”