The Town of Londonderry is currently seeking a new clerk’s assistant. The position is part-time, but is a full-time responsibility. The assistant helps the three town clerks to provide efficient, effective service to the folk of Londonderry.
This is not a new position, but rather an expected opening in the department. Lisa Drabik, the Assistant Town Manager, said they’re working on “shuffling folks.” She explained that one of the current town clerk assistants, Dawn Nadin, is anticipated to be appointed to Town Tax Collector. The part-time clerk assistant will then move in to fill her position, creating the posted opening.
The cause for this all this shuffling is the retirement of current Town Tax Collector, Kathleen Donnelly, who has had the job since 2015. She was previously a deputy tax collector.
Drabik said the town clerk and tax collector positions used to be one and the same. A town warrant article divided them into two separate jobs in order to provide residents with better service in Town Hall. Drabik could not recall the exact year this went into effect, but says it was before she became assistant town manager in 2015.
The new part-time assistant would report to current Town Clerk, Sherry Farrell. He or she would support Clerk Assistants Melaine Cavedon, Christine Campbell, and Diane Demers with whatever needed to be done, with additional duties as directed by the town clerk and tax collector. The job posting states that the candidate must adhere to “an appropriate level of confidentiality regarding Town and office business.” One of the listed responsibilities is “[maintaining] records of the Town in accordance with laws, regulations, policies, and generally accepted practices.”
The assistant clerk job calls for someone who is “highly responsible.” One would expect that from a department that collects residents’ taxes, deals with auto renewals, and handles all state related marriage and pet licensing. The town clerks also perform duties as State Municipal agents when it comes to vehicle registrations. The Town Clerk/Tax Collector Department is also responsible for collecting all water and sewer payments. They register voters and carry out all local, state, and other general elections, according to the Londonderry website.
The Town Clerk/Tax Collector Department is looking for someone who has a knowledge of (or willingness to learn) state and local laws regarding “ tax collections, elections, motor vehicle registrations, licensing, vital statistics, and other related laws.” All applicants should be able to “make accurate arithmetical calculations,” or in layman’s terms, be really good at math.
Anyone interested in the Clerk’s Assistant position can find the posting at Londonderrynh.org. The deadline for the application is August 18.