PUTNEY — After serving as interim town clerk for seven months, Putney resident Jonathan Johnson was appointed as town clerk by the Selectboard at the end of October.
Having a new, permanent town clerk may provide a sense of relief to residents and municipal officials.
In Vermont, the town clerk's duties are assigned by statute and are crucial to a town's smooth and effective operation.
Town clerks preside over elections and submits the results, including Town Meeting minutes, to the Secretary of State's office.
They are the legal custodians of many municipal public records, such as marriage certificates, certificates of service for members of the Armed Forces, dog licenses, real estate transfers, and land use permits, and they are in charge of the town vault, where many of these records are kept.
The town clerk is also responsible for submitting the yearly Town Report to the state, and to the municipality's local libraries.
When there's an interruption, it can sow chaos in the town offices.
Recent disruptions
A few years ago, former town manager Cynthia Stoddard began alerting the Selectboard that longtime town clerk Anita Coomes wasn't submitting dog licenses to the state or cashing checks written by residents trying to register their canines. Coomes was also failing to file state and federal employment and tax forms.
Both situations were costing the town money, causing frustration in the town manager's office, and bringing the town offices under extra scrutiny from the state tax department and the IRS.
However, because Coomes was an elected official, all the Selectboard could do was ask her to complete her tasks. Coomes told The Commons she was having a hard time with the state's new online filing system.
Coomes announced her retirement in early 2017. Voters had an opportunity to elect a new town clerk at the Annual Meeting. Denise Germon won that election and started her three-year term in March, 2017.
Barely two months later, Germon stopped coming to work.
Because she didn't resign, and Vermont has no recall mechanism for elected officials, Putney was stuck with an absentee town clerk. Other staff members filled in, and the Selectboard hired Coomes on a temporary basis to help complete the town clerk's tasks, but it created stress as the Selectboard and other town staff figured out what to do without a functioning clerk.
During the same month Germon abandoned her post, the Legislature changed the laws covering town clerks. The new statutes allowed voters, at the annual meeting, to change the position from elected to appointed. Prior to that, the only way voters could make this switch was by changing the town charter - if the town had one to begin with.
At Town Meeting 2018, the Putney electorate took the Legislature up on their offer, voting to make the town clerk and treasurer appointed positions. This meant the Selectboard was responsible for hiring, supervising, and, if necessary, dismissing these municipal employees.
Trial run
In mid-March, the Selectboard appointed Jonathan Johnson as interim town clerk, with a contract set to end in early November.
The interim status, and timing, was chosen for two reasons, Johnson told The Commons. “First, to see if it would work out, and, to see if I wanted to go back to teaching skiing at Okemo” in November, Johnson said.
This seat in the town offices isn't Johnson's first. In November 2014, the Selectboard appointed him as lister when a vacancy came up.
“That was my introduction to Town Hall,” he said. The following March, Johnson was elected to a regular lister position, which he held until resigning to become interim town clerk.
Johnson was born in Istanbul - he moved to Putney with his family when he was in fifth grade - and spent a large portion of his adult life in Ohio and New York City. He returned to Putney five years ago after his place of employment ceased operations.
When asked why he would accept a position that has seen some drama the past few years, Johnson said, “I really like the town,” and, “in my career, I've always been a kind of problem-solver.”
As an example, he explained that when he was employed by a medical-device manufacturer, he would travel to the company's South Korea and Philippines locations to help out when there were issues.
“I like challenges, and the town clerk's office had some issues,” Johnson said. “It was a project.”
“I was watching from the Listers' office and I was aware there were issues to be resolved and we needed a way forward,” Johnson said.
When voters changed the position to one that the Selectboard appointed, “I was interested, and wanted to get the town moving forward."
Interesting every day
Johnson has no regrets.
“It turns out the town clerk is a really cool job. It really is the best job I've ever had,” he said.
“Almost every day something interesting happens” Johnson said.
He gave a few examples.
“A guy drove down here from Derby Line, looking for his great-grandmother's marriage certificate from the early-1900s,” Johnson said.
The man's daughter was set to travel to Ireland, where the woman was born, and she wanted to do some genealogy research while she was there. But the man had an incorrect spelling for his great-grandmother's name.
Even with the wrong information, “within a few minutes I found the document,” said Johnson, who enjoyed helping the man with his quest.
“There was a local woman from Germany who lived here for 30 years and raised children here,” Johnson said. This past summer, she became a citizen and registered to vote. “She came in with her family so she could vote early. There were so many of them, they had to sit around the Selectboard table,” he said. “That's the American dream, right? To vote."
A more common occurrence is helping the public with pet inquiries. “I maintain the dog database,” Johnson said, and when someone calls him with a report of a lost dog, “I re-home lost dogs. Reuniting dogs with their owners is cool. The problem is, not everybody licenses their dogs.
“A lot of it is mundane - dog licenses, land transfers - but I really like the election process. Helping people participate in the democratic process is cool,” Johnson said. He noted “the staff in [Secretary of State] Jim Condos's office is really helpful,” especially officials in the Elections Division. “They're just a phone call away,” Johnson said.
The recent midterm election impressed Johnson.
“We had a 67 percent voter turnout,” he said. “I think Putney residents, in general, are very engaged in the business of the town. They care about our community and the people who live here, and that makes it a great place to live.”
Permanent records
Johnson names the preservation of records as his top concern as town clerk. His plan is to digitize as many of the records as possible.
“The biggest risk to paper is people handling it,” said Johnson, and his plans to “modernize the office” will protect these documents. He noted he and other town staff are working on another important project: making improvements to Putney's municipal website.
Another change Johnson brought is increasing public access to the town clerk's office. Before he was appointed, his office was closed on Tuesdays. Now, residents and visitors - such as real estate professionals - who make their living partly by accessing public records, can come in five days a week.
“The biggest difference is that staff now works really well together. We cooperate on things,” Johnson said. He noted Town Manager Karen Astley has been particularly helpful with elections and the upcoming annual Town Report.
“The Town Hall is working really well right now,” Johnson said. “We work with great people, doing interesting and important work.”