CRANBURY: Township seeks secretary for six boards

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   CRANBURY — The township is in the process of searching for a new secretary for six of its volunteer boards as Kristen Hamilton will leave those positions at the end of the month.
   Ms. Hamilton is secretary of the Board of Health, Environmental Commission, Human Services Board, Municipal Alliance, Park Planning Board and Shade Tree Commission.
   The committee briefly discussed searching for volunteers for the positions, but ultimately decided against it.
   ”It would be difficult to find someone to serve in that capacity as a volunteer,” said Committeeman Glenn Johnson, as the committee discussed its options. “It’s important for records to be kept as accurately as possible.”
   ”The level of commitment necessary is significant,” Committeeman Dave Cook said.
   After considering not replacing Ms. Hamilton’s paid position, the committee decided consolidating a few boards and subcommittees would be a better way to save money.
   The committee decided to start searching for a person to replace Ms. Hamilton.
   ”We have an ad out for board secretary for the six boards she covered,” said Denise Marabello, Cranbury chief finance officer, adding she would like to have one secretary for all of the boards Ms. Hamilton covered.
   Ms. Hamilton suggested that, if it finds someone, the committee should start the secretary out with just one or two boards as she did so the new secretary is not immediately overwhelmed.
   Ms. Hamilton said she wasn’t given secretary duties over all six boards at once, and her duties were slowly accumulated over time as needed.
   Ms. Hamilton will be leaving at the end of April. She will continue her duties at evening meetings until then.
   For working about 10 to 15 hours per week, Ms. Hamilton received between $12,000 and $14,000 per year.
   Catherine Frohbieter, chairperson of the Human Services Board, said the members of her board couldn’t possible get along without a paid secretary like Ms. Hamilton, primarily because no one else on the board is computer literate enough.
   ”What Kristen does is far beyond what a normal secretary would do,” said Beverly Gerberich, chairwoman of Board of Health. “There are a lot of regulations behind the scenes that we don’t understand.
   She added Ms. Hamilton acts as a liaison for the board to the Township Committee.
   ”If we don’t have someone consistently doing this, I’m afraid things will fall through the cracks,” said Bonnie Larson, a member of the Shade Tree Commission.
   ”We just passed a budget that said we won’t cut services in town,” Committeeman Dan Mulligan said, adding he felt committed to finding a replacement for Ms. Hamilton.
   The committee did see Ms. Hamilton’s resignation as an opportunity to cut some expenses.
   For one, the committee and members of the public agreed the duties of organizing the annual drug fair, which took up 80 of Ms. Hamilton’s hours each year, should be returned to volunteers who did the work when the fair began 21 years ago.