LEYDEN — As the Selectboard works to hire a new town clerk, members are pondering whether to split the duties and create an assistant town clerk position.
The board selected a candidate on Wednesday to replace Town Clerk George Stephan, who had his last day with the town on June 29, and is waiting to hear back as to whether the chosen candidate will accept their offer of 15 to 19 hours a week at a rate of $24.50 an hour.
In addition to discussing which applicant would best fit the town’s needs, board members questioned whether creating a part-time assistant town clerk position would ease the workload and help the town keep a town clerk for a longer period of time.
Stephan was hired for the role just over a year ago in May 2025. He replaced Paul McLatchy III, who also held the position for a year.
“We’ve gone through a number of town clerks. … It’s a difficult position to fill,” Selectboard Chair Erica Jensen said. “It’s an extremely critical position to any town, but especially to a small town. They play a huge role in elections, recordkeeping…”
Jensen said turnover among town clerks is difficult, and Leyden would like to find a clerk who can commit to training in the duties and staying in the role for a few years. She added that 2026 will be particularly challenging and have a high workload as the town will have numerous elections, such as the state primaries and state elections, a vote on the Franklin County Technical School building project, and potentially a vote on the six-town regionalization proposal that would merge school districts, which would be decided through a special election.
Selectboard member Katherine DiMatteo suggested that the town split the town clerk position, which was advertised at 19 hours a week, into a 10-hour-per-week town clerk job and a nine-hour-per-week assistant town clerk role. Jensen said she thinks 10 hours would not be enough time for the clerk to complete their duties, so she suggested increasing it to 15 hours and then, if the budget allows, creating an assistant town clerk position.
“Our goal is that we’re developing the position so that it is a professional municipal position,” DiMatteo said, “and that the person who’s doing it is competent and capable, and adds to the quality of the town’s services that we should provide.”
Selectboard members agreed to see how much room there is in the budget after a town clerk is hired and then work with a neighboring town to assist in training Leyden’s new clerk, after which they can return to discussions on creating an assistant town clerk role.
