Starting and running a successful small business served as a great background for handling the complex office of the Town Clerk. Having served on the Parks and Recreation Commission, I had learned about the intricacies of city government. Having worked in various countries and careers has provided me with the range of skills that are required to be an effective Town Clerk. Incumbency is important: it takes a long time to learn all of the duties of the Town Clerk that are listed in the State Statutes. It's a slow and time consuming process to navigate the maze of bureaucratic regulations to implement structural change. For instance, I have succeeded in overhauling the total software environment in our office, allowing for efficiency and accountability. It took several years from starting the RFP process to the actual implementation. Some of the features that would benefit and streamline the shared services with other departments are still being phased in.

The Town Clerk and the Secretary of State are waiting for the regulations from the State Legislature regarding the no-excuse absentee balloting process. The Town Clerk is dependent on the resources provided by the municipality to implement the new regulations. (This holds for all duties of the Town Clerk). I don't believe the increase in AB balloting will be nearly as large as we experienced during COVID. Having successfully managed that gargantuan job then, the office is well equipped to deal with the changes that may be required in the near future. The recently adopted Early Voting period will further reduce the increase in AB voting.

The Town Clerk office is open to the public each day. While we have made great progress in establishing remote access to our services via technology, all services are also provided in the office. Within the Government Center, we are one of very few offices that don't require an appointment. The City's HR department determines job descriptions, testing and interviewing of candidates for vacancies. If possible, candidates with foreign language skills are hired. The City allows for additional compensation for employees with foreign language skills. I have succeeded in changing some of the job descriptions for the staff in the Town Clerk office to accommodate the changes in society, technology, and the growth of the city. It's a lengthy time consuming task, but I believe it's one of the changes that I have made that benefit the Town Clerk office.