As a resident of Northampton since 1983, I’ve had many occasions to use the city clerk’s office.
It is an important office as the official keeper of a community’s most important records: birth certificates, death certificates, dog licenses and the public records of our city government. It’s a place you can go to cast an absentee ballot if you will be out of town during an election.
That’s because the city clerk is in charge of our city elections, whether we are electing representatives of the School Committee, trustees of the Forbes Library or president of the United States.
The person who holds that job should be smart, organized, efficient, flexible, innovative and friendly. Pamela L. Powers, our current interim clerk, who was assistant city clerk for four years, possesses all of those qualities and more.
Whenever I had cause to interact with Powers, I experienced her as supremely helpful, efficient and unfailingly cheerful. I also had cause to interact with her during the years she served as administrator to the City Council. That is also an important job that keeps the trains running on time for the City Council and all who come before it. In that capacity, she had a calm and steady presence and was unflappable, no matter the stress.
The city clerk is a behind-the-scenes job in some ways, but it’s a very important one. Pam Powers is flexible, open to feedback and a joy to work with. I hope she becomes Northampton’s next city clerk.
Laurie Loisel
Northampton