By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
PLAINSBORO — It will be a changing of the hats for Patricia Hullfish next week, as she officially leaves her longtime position as Township Clerk to begin work as a part-time aide to Mayor Peter Cantu and the Township Committee.
The move will be officially memorialized Wednesday when the Plainsboro Township Committee will consider one measure appointing current Deputy Township Clerk Carrol Torres as acting township clerk starting Monday. The committee will also consider an ordinance establishing a salary range of $34,000 to $51,000 for Ms. Hullfish’s new position as executive assistant to the mayor.
Ms. Hullfish said she was excited about the move, which would allow to her to continue serving the community and the mayor that she has been working with for more than two decades.
That same mayor said he was also pleased with the new arrangement, and the prospect of having another longtime Plainsboro employee stay on and continue working for the township.
”I didn’t want to lose her, because, frankly, she has done such a great job,” said Mayor Cantu, who is the only longer-tenured public servant in the township, following the recent retirement of Township Attorney Joseph Stonaker. “Now we will retain the benefit of her presence in the township.”
The new position was officially created by the Township Committee at its Jan. 23 meeting, and while the aide position is technically a new job in Plainsboro, its duties are not.
The Township Clerk position had already performed much of the work in the new position, and those combined duties had been getting to be a little too much for one person, Ms. Hullfish said, so for her, the change is a welcome one.
”It will be good for Plainsboro, and for me personally,” said Ms. Hullfish of the change.
With the recent acquisition of a new home on the Jersey shore, the aide position’s Monday through Thursday schedule and a lack of nighttime work will mean more recreation time for Ms. Hullfish, and a reduction of work as she gets closer and closer to retirement.
From her perspective, the job had changed quite a bit when she first took it over nearly 25 years ago.
”It was quite a different job, that has a lot more responsibilities now,” said Ms. Hullfish, 60. “There are a lot more people. I was heavily involved in the community, so at the time it seemed like a natural progression.”
Both Mayor Cantu and Ms. Hullfish said they were confident in the handing of Ms. Hullfish’s old job to Ms. Torres, who has served in the clerk’s office for over two years after working for the city government of Trenton.
”She came to town with good experience and has gained more working as the deputy township clerk,” said Mayor Cantu. “She is anxious to move into the job.”
For Ms. Torres, the work in Plainsboro was a welcome change from that of the clerk’s office in Trenton. “It is interesting,” said Ms. Torres. “It is a smaller town, and it has a different form of government.”Ms. Torres has already taken classes and studied for the position, so following a state clerk’s test in April, she should be able to become the full-fledged township clerk, instead of the acting position to which she will likely be appointed at the Township Committee meeting Wednesday.
Ms. Hullfish will retain her position on the Planning Board, which is one she has enjoyed for 20 years, and will continue to enjoy.
”It’s an exciting job, especially with the hospital coming in,” Ms. Hullfish said.
The position’s parameters and salary were based on research done on surrounding municipalities that also retain assistants that perform duties related to the mayor’s position.
Plainsboro’s aide position would have responsibilities including representing the mayor at meetings, assisting with fundraising efforts, answering phone calls from community stakeholders and the press, and assisting with writing and preparing municipal documents, according to Ms. Hullfish.
