AMHERST — A member of the town clerk’s office for more than 15 years, Susan Audette, will become Amherst’s next town clerk, pending approval by the Town Council on Monday.
Audette, who has been serving as temporary town clerk since Shavena Martin began a leave in September and then departed from the position in December, is being recommended for the job by Town Manager Paul Bockelman.
A memo from Bockelman to the Town Council praises Audette for stepping in to oversee the presidential election last fall and proving her “mettle.”
“This was not a task she was expecting nor seeking. But she accepted the responsibility with grace and confidence,” Bockelman wrote.
Among the 11 applicants, she was the only candidate with direct experience as a town clerk, has served under four permanent clerks in Amherst and is nearing completion of the New England Municipal Clerk Association certification.
She is also a justice of the peace, a notary public commissioner and a burial agent.
Audette began her tenure in Amherst in the fall of 2005 after running a medical transcription service business in Belchertown, where she makes her home, for 12 years.
If appointed, Audette’s responsibilities, beyond overseeing the day-to-day operations, will include outreach to college students and communities that often don’t participate in elections, developing better customer service standards, such as offering services in multiple languages, and implementing more technology and online services, according to Bockelman’s memo.
A screening committee interviewed four applicants and forwarded just one finalist to Bockelman for an interview. That committee, chaired by Human Resources Director Donna-Rae Kenneally, also included Licensing Coordinator Steven McCarthy, Jennifer Moyston, administrative assistant to the town manager and Human Resources and Human Rights departments, Director of Senior Services Mary Beth Ogulewicz, and Nancy Talbot, Ware’s town clerk and president of the New England Association of Town Clerks.
