NORRIDGEWOCK — The Board of Selectmen is looking to appoint an interim town clerk after the current clerk resigned Tuesday, saying she did not have enough time to dedicate to the job.

Town Clerk Kerri Everett, who has held the elective position since 2012, said Wednesday that the amount of time required for the job was not worth the pay.

The town clerk, who is responsible for elections, data collection and all records kept by the town, is paid a stipend of $3,500 per year.

“I thought I would have enough time, but I don’t have access to the Town Office after hours, and I don’t have time with my full-time job to do the duties of town clerk,” said Everett, who also owns The Quimby Child Care Center, a day care center.

In a letter to the Board of Selectmen, Everett wrote that she was “unable to dedicate the time needed to effectively fill the position” and that it was “unfair to the townspeople who elected me.”

The Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 Wednesday night to accept Everett’s resignation, with Matt Everett, Kerri Everett’s husband, abstaining.

The board also decided Wednesday night to talk to the union overseeing town employees about having current town employees take over the town clerk’s duties until the position can be filled by an election in March.

The town voted in both 2008 and 2012 on changing the position to an appointive one, but both times the proposal was rejected. Former Town Clerk Charlotte Curtis, who is also a member of the Board of Selectmen, also said Wednesday night that she plans to run for town clerk in March.

While serving as town clerk in 2012, Curtis was fired from a separate position as an office clerk in the Town Office after she was caught making secret audio recordings of conversations at the front desk.

It is not illegal for a town employee to hold the elective job of town clerk. However, because of union regulations, town employees cannot perform the duties of elected officials during their regular work hours.

The board said Wednesday night that if the position were to be appointive, town employees could incorporate the duties of clerk into their regular workday. The board is looking to appoint an interim clerk to the position, a job that could be filled by town employees pending union approval.

Sharon Dodge, an office clerk, said at Wednesday’s meeting that she would be open to the possibility of the Town Office clerks, of which there are two, taking over the duties; but she added that the town clerk’s duties call for a lot of training requirements.

“It would be a lot for us to go through all of that,” she said. “I think the preferred solution would be if somebody who thinks they are going to run could take over now.”

Curtis, who said she is interested in the job, said she was not sure she would want to take over as an appointed clerk because it would require her to give up her seat on the Board of Selectmen. She said she does not plan to run for a seat on the board again in March.

As clerk, Everett did not keep office hours at the Town Office.

“So many people have complained that the town clerk is not available when they would like,” Selectwoman Sallie Wilder said. “I think a lot of people would like to see it (appointive), because then someone would be behind the counter when they come into the Town Office, and it would be more convenient.”

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368

rohm@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @rachel_ohm

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