Lansing celebrates National Professional Municipal Clerks Week

Town of Lansing Deputy Clerk Jessie Hall worked for a private employer for more than 20 years before finding her home in the Lansing town clerk’s office in 2019.

It was an office where no day was like the day before it, and you never knew who was going to walk in.

“I just wanted to do something different,” she said. “I enjoy it here. I like seeing the residents, I think everyone likes to be helpful in their job and I enjoy providing a service to the town.”

Two weeks ago was National Professional Municipal Clerks Week, where the service workers in town clerk’s offices nationwide were celebrated.

Those services depend on the month or time of year, but what the town clerk’s office does is far-reaching. The office collects town taxes, is the licensing agent of the town for things like marriage and dog licenses and offers notary services.

The office also creates agendas for the town board meetings, collects sewer and water payments, bingo and game of chance licensing, Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests and records management.

Lansing Town Clerk Debbie Munson said the office deals with people trying to find the right place to go for everything from getting a dead animal out of the road to water problems and where to pay school taxes.

“We get calls about when the post office is open or what to do if there is a dead animal in the road, or people will just call to ask for a phone number,” she said. “It’s almost like we’re the yellow pages of the phone book for the town. If people don’t know where to call, they call the town clerk because the town clerk knows what’s going on in the town. Sometimes, I think they have the town clerk’s number on speed dial.”

Hall said residents of Lansing have called with a lot of strange questions, but she sees the office as a gateway to the community and thinks they have a responsibility to point people in the right direction even if the town clerk’s office can’t help.

Two of the questions the office gets the most are around mailing addresses and garbage pick-up, according to Hall.

Mailing addresses are determined by which post office handles the mail, not where the physical address is. Lansing residents have mailing addresses from Groton, Locke, Freeville and Ithaca in addition to Lansing. The town doesn’t have garbage and recycling services, so the office helps point residents to the right place to find haulers to pick up their trash through the Tompkins County Solid Waste Department.

“You’d be amazed at the questions we get asked; some of them have nothing to do with anything whatsoever, but we do try to point people in the right direction,” Hall said. “Hopefully, they find that our office is a friendly place that they feel comfortable calling to get information.”

Hall said on a busy day, the office could see 20 to 25 residents pass through. The busiest months are ones when the office is collecting water and sewer payments, as well as January through March, when the office collects town taxes.

The office has served as a valuable resource for new residents trying to get information about the town, as well as people who have limited or no internet access.

Munson started at the Lansing town clerk’s office as the deputy clerk in 2014. She was appointed by the Lansing Town Board as the town clerk in 2016, when the previous clerk retired. She has since won two elections and continues to serve in that role.

She said some of the things she is most proud of during her time as the clerk have been transitioning most of the town’s documents to an electronic format to improve efficiency, implementing remote banking for the office and allowing the office to accept credit card payments.

She also became a registered municipal clerk through the New York State Town Clerks Association (NYSTCA). The association recognizes town clerks who are looking to improve their towns through continuing their education.

Munson just got back from the NYSTCA Conference, which took place in Albany in April. The conference featured classes and workshops on all of the topics town clerk’s offices cover, from FOIL to marriage licenses to notary classes.

The most valuable part of the conference, according to Munson, was the networking aspect of a conference that size. She said there are 923 towns in New York, and most, if not all, have a town clerk. More than 300 attended the conference.

She said the community of town clerks isn’t competitive, but rather a community of people who understand the job and its importance. It’s a community where if a town clerk in Lansing has a question, they can easily call a town clerk in Dryden.

“We have great networking between the town clerks,” she said. “You never feel like you’re at a loss because you can just email, pick up the phone and contact other town clerks. We’re all willing to help out anybody.”

Munson doesn’t need a week to celebrate all the work the town clerk’s office does. She knows from the reaction of residents how much the work of her office means to the Lansing community.

When she walks into the Town Hall offices at 29 Auburn Rd., she knows the work is important and wants the office to reflect a place where people are greeted with a friendly face, willing to help.

“It keeps the town running,” she said. “You have great interaction with people in the town. If you didn’t know them, you get to know them better, and there’s great satisfaction in helping people. We really don’t have people who are angry with us, and I think that’s because we have a friendly office and friendly staff.”

Lansing at Large appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.

In brief:

Annual Golf Outing

The Lansing Fire Department is holding its 24th Annual Golf Outing May 21 at Stonehedges Golf Course in Groton. All proceeds from this event are used for the Joe “Ditty” Joseph Award, which is presented annually to a Lansing High School graduating senior who exhibits outstanding volunteerism within our community and is planning to pursue higher education in fire, medical or rescue service.

This event has supported over 30 high school seniors and raised over $28,000 during its existence. It’s a fun family event for all levels of playing ability and all ages. Prizes include closest to the pin, longest drive, skins door prizes and a 50/50 drawing.

Coffee and bagels will be available prior to the game, with a steak dinner to follow. The cost is $85.00 per player or a set of four tickets for $320.00. Registration is at 7 a.m., with an 8 a.m. shotgun start.

Please email or call to pledge your support! Contact Frank Towner at crossroad@twcny.rr.com or (607) 339-3209.