The office of East Hampton town clerk is an elected position that rarely draws the same attention as other local races.
So, when Carole Brennan announced last winter that she would step down after after 33 years in the job, 31 as deputy and 11 as clerk, it may not have generated as many dinner table discussions as say, the town supervisor’s race. But, while the title may not be the flashiest, the role is integral to the functioning of town government.
Two candidates are vying to succeed Ms. Brennan: Jeff Miller, running on the Republican line (he screened with both parties and is not registered with any party) and Michael Hansen, running as a Democrat.
A visitor to the clerk’s office is met by a long, wide counter, behind which sit a handful of employees. Ms. Brennan’s office, really an alcove created by walls of files, is out of sight.
Perhaps it’s fitting that she’s been swallowed up by files and volumes of town board and advisory board minutes. (The clerk attends every town board meeting.) If nothing else, the role has historically involved forms and paperwork; however, like almost everything, it has become dominated by computers.
Its essence remains the same: The clerk is the keeper of all town records.
If you’re born, married, or die in the Town of East Hampton, that needs to be recorded by the clerk. If you want to hunt, license your dog, or get any number of permits, you see the clerk. Want to work as a contractor in the town, go to the beach, or to the dump?
See the clerk.
Not only is it an important job, but it’s a role that is both public-facing and organizationally demanding, requiring strong management skills to oversee a staff of six. Replacing Ms. Brennan’s decades of institutional knowledge will not be easy.
Both candidates told The Star they are ready to begin training the day after the election.
Jeff Miller, 55, retired this month after 36 years as a heavy equipment operator with the East Hampton Village Public Works Department. A father of two, he describes himself as “a 13th generation Bonacker.”
When asked why he wants to be clerk, he said he’s considered the job for a very long time.
“I’ve served the public my entire adult life,” he said over coffee at the Golden Pear in East Hampton. “This is not something I’ve come to in the last 20 minutes. I love my hometown. Can I say it’s the same one I grew up in? No way, but in tough times I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Mr. Miller’s résumé includes seven years as chief of the Springs Fire Department, 36 years as a volunteer there, three years on the Springs School Board, and nine years on the East Hampton Little League board. He’s been a member of the Fire Department Benevolent Association for 10 years, served for five years as its president, and, for two decades, was the Santa at the firehouse.
“I pride myself on being a people person,” he said. “I’ve never met a conversation I didn’t like, just people I don’t like conversing with.”
As for the computers and the filing?
“I’m ready for a new challenge,” he said. “The clerk is the face and the grunt of Town Hall. You have your staff to do most of the yeoman’s work. I have no problem with computers. I’m not going to sit there and program one, but they’ve become very user friendly. Most of the stuff you do as part of the counter work is a standardized report.”
Mr. Miller points to his 18 years as Suffolk County Deputy Fire Coordinator to show how he understands how to interact with the state government and its reporting needs.
“It’s a policy-adherence job, not a policy-setting job,” he said of the town clerk position. “But being in the clerk’s office, you can see what works and what isn’t working. So you can be that person to go to a councilperson and say, ‘Listen, this is what the public is telling me.’ “
Michael Hansen, 59, a father of three, has lived in Wainscott full time since 2016, though his family has roots in the area going back generations.
“I’m a direct descendant of Ezekiel the bridge builder, who built the bridge that gives Bridgehampton its name. My father tells me to always mention that,” he said.
Mr. Hansen owns his own technology consultancy business specializing in website development and database management. He has built sites for local organizations including the Montauk Historical Society, the Springs Church, the Springs Hardware Store, and the Montauk Presbyterian Church.
He spoke with The Star from the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor, after a meeting he had with another client of his, the Sag Harbor Historical Museum.
“My experience jibes well with the job requirements. A technology background is essential for the next town clerk. I’ll bring my 20-plus years of consultancy to help improve the office,” he said.
Reciting code verbatim, he emphasized the clerk’s duty to safeguard the “records, books, and papers” of the town. He believes many records can be digitized.
“There are important documents that need to be preserved in perpetuity, a marriage license or a death certificate, for example. But a dog license? Do we need 100 years of recycling center permits? We can recycle the recycling permits,” he said.
He believes some of the town records, like bound volumes from the 17th century which sit on a shelf behind Ms. Brennan, should have a climate-controlled dedicated storage area on the Town Hall campus where backup servers could also protect digitized files.
“Another goal is to enhance the website so that people who want to can register for their recycling permit from home. That would reduce foot traffic at the office and lower the tension of having to wait in line, because there will be smaller lines. The job is really about customer service. People should be able to pay with credit card,” he said.
“I write one check a year and that’s to the town for my recycling permit. What’s in place can stay in place, I would just like to expand our payment options.”
His time on advisory boards has educated him in town code. Mr. Hansen has been a member of the Wainscott Citizens Advisor Committee, the East Hampton Town Sustainability Committee, and for the last four years has served on the town planning board.
“I refer to my four years on the planning board as a college degree. You get a great education in town code doing that job,” he said. “It takes you into every hamlet.”
The candidates are very different from each other.
Mr. Miller put it starkly. “We’re voting for the soul of this town.”
Election Day is Nov. 4.
