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At Least A Dozen Interested In Vacant Hartford City And Town Clerk Job

JEFFREY B. COHEN

September 26, 2009

At least a dozen people have submitted resumes to the city council to be considered as the replacement for Hartford City and Town Clerk Daniel Carey, who died two weeks ago.

Among those interested are former Councilman and Democratic Town Chairman Noel McGregor; former council President John Bazzano; Donna Brown-Roberts, the wife of Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts; and Winston Smith, the assistant town clerk.

The city council has the authority to hire a clerk. The city's personnel department said there is no job description or advertisement for the job, and the salary range is $89,100 to $136,640.

Council President Calixto Torres would not discuss the candidates Friday, but the council's majority Democrats met to talk about them, he said.

"There's still some more discussion to be had, and then it will come up for action on Monday and we'll see where the votes fall," Torres said. "It's always been an internal council process, a straight political appointment."

Torres said there had yet to be discussion about how much money the new clerk will be paid. Asked about the decision-making process, Torres said, "We look at their resumes and we discuss the individuals."

"Everything is taken into consideration," he said.

The other applicants include: Stephen Fournier, a lawyer; LaKesha A. Jones, an analyst for UnitedHealth Group; Eloise McCormack, the city's assistant registrar; Glenda F. Patterson, a customer service representative for AT&T; Renee L. Richards, a legislative assistant in the mayor's office; Marcia L. Rose, a former staff assistant for several Bridgeport city officials; Delroy Alexander Shirley, a consultant and former senior assistant corporation counsel for the city; and Melissa S. Thompson, an equal employment opportunity specialist for the state Department of Education.

Joe Camposeo, town clerk of Manchester and president of the Connecticut Town Clerks Association, said that 70 percent of the state's clerks are elected and 30 percent are appointed. Most of the big-city clerks are appointed, he said.

The city council meets Monday at 7 p.m.