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BORDENTOWN CITY: City bids farewell to longtime clerk

Aug. 1 declared Patricia D. Ryan Day

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
   Longtime City Clerk Patricia Ryan attended her last meeting July 8.
    Ms. Ryan acknowledged and thanked members of the governing body who have worked with her over the years as well as city employees, her staff “both past and present” and family.
    Mayor Joseph Malone said, “I never thought I would be here saying goodbye to her in this position of capacity.”
    The room was filled with family, friends, residents, colleagues and city employees who wanted to pay a final tribute to Ms. Ryan before she officially retires Aug. 1.
    Ms. Ryan questioned how she could properly thank the city and ýPage=001 Column=001 OK,0000.00þ residents.
    “How do you close the door on 40 years of your life?” Ms. Ryan said. “How do you thank everyone who has helped you become the person you are today, and there doesn’t seem to be any words adequate enough. How do you express how thankful you are for the opportunities you have been given? I am proud to have been able to serve the people in my hometown community and would like to thank them for giving me that great opportunity.”
    She also thanked her family for all their patience and understanding, especially when she was attending Rutgers University for all her clerk certifications.
    “Then there is my husband, Bob, who has always supported me and my career and for allowing me to suck ýPage=002 Column=002 OK,0039.04þ him into everything,” Ms. Ryan said.
    Audience members laughed.
    “Without all of these people in my life, I would not have enjoyed such a rewarding and fulfilling 40 years,” Ms. Ryan said. “So, from the bottom of my heart, all I can say is thank you for 40 wonderful years. I am going to miss all of you.”
    Just as Mayor Joseph Malone was starting his new term at the June 10 City Commission meeting, he had to read a letter from Ms. Ryan making the announcement of her decision to retire.
    The letter, addressed to Mayor Malone, Deputy Mayor James Lynch and City Commissioner Zigmont Targonski, said, “On July 23 of this year, I celebrate my 40th year with the city of Bordentown, and it is with some sadness that I inform you that I ýPage=002 Column=003 OK,0039.04þ will be retiring as of Aug. 1, but also with joy of starting a new chapter of my life.”
    Mayor Malone said, “Pat Ryan has probably been for me, personally — aside from my wife and my family — the most important person in my life. If you talk about two bookends holding somebody up — my family, my wife, was on one side, and Pat was on the other. There’s never a time in all the years that we have known each other and that’s probably been all our lives and over the last 40 years that I have been in politics (that) she has been somebody that truly has been there not only for me, but for the city and for every person who has needed help in this city.”
    Ms. Ryan started as a city clerk in July 1973 and spent the next 25 years moving up. She began working for the city’s water and sewer utility. In 1984, she became the city ýPage=002 Column=004 OK,0039.04þ clerk, finance officer and registrar.
    In 1990, she became a certified municipal clerk. She received a certified public manager’s designation in 1991 through Rutgers University and the State of New Jersey.
    She essentially worked as the “city administrator” even though Bordentown City does not officially have one, according to Ms. Ryan.
    Mayor Malone described Ms. Ryan as a “kind and compassionate person.”
    “She was tough when she had to be,” Mayor Malone said. “She had such a mix of all of the attributes that anybody could ever want in public service.”
    Several times during the evening, the commissioners thanked Ms. Ryan “one final time.”
    “I know you have been moving forward with mixed emotions as we are,” Commissioner Targonski said.
    The commissioners presented Ms. Ryan with various proclamations, including a city proclamation; a Congressional proclamation from Congressman Jon D. Runyan; a Senate and General Assembly joint legislative resolution by Sen. Diane Allen and Assemblymen Ronald Dancer, Troy Singleton and Herb Conaway; and a Board of Chosen Freeholders proclamation.
    Mayor Malone presented Ms. Ryan with the proclamation from the City of Bordentown.
    “The City of Bordentown on July 23, 1973, hired an intelligent, determined and dedicated young woman,” Mayor Malone read. “That date started a 40-year career in which Patricia D. Ryan developed skills and talents as the city clerk, treasurer and chief financial officer and registrar. Patricia D. Ryan’s skills and talents were combined with her rock solid honesty and integrity, which have given her a unique position of distinction in Bordentown and among her associates in various professional organizations in which she has attained nuýPage=002 Column=005 OK,0084.03þ merous executive positions. Patricia has been a role model to her family, the community and any person who cherishes public service.”
    He added, “She has set a standard of excellence for generations of Bordentonians to follow.”
    Ms. Ryan also served on various economic development committees and as co- chairwoman of the Old City Hall Restoration Committee.
    “Her legacy will be memorialized by her legacy of pride, service and love of her community,” Mayor Malone said. “This is a very, very difficult time to see Pat go. It’s not something that I am looking forward to. It will be a different experience for all of us.”
    Mayor Malone invited people and organizations in the audience to come forward to thank Ms. Ryan.
    Chief John Walls of the Bordentown City Fire Department and other members of the Fire Department presented Ms. Ryan with a plaque on behalf of Hope Hose Humane Company No. 1 and the Consolidated Fire Association.
    “To Patricia ‘Pat’ Ryan, the grateful appreciation for all your years of dedicated service to the Bordentown City Fire Department and with your help fulfilling all our duties,” Chief Walls read. “I know all the years that you were with us through thick and thin, through the big fires and small fires, whatever we need, you were always there, Pat. Good luck.”
    Bordentown City Police Chief Matthew Simmons III and his department members also paid tribute to Ms. Ryan.
    “You and I have been such good friends, and we really developed a personal relationship,” Chief Simmons said. “We want to wish you all the luck in the world and to your future endeavors. God bless you for everything you have done for us.”
    Robert Erickson, superintendent of Public Works, thanked Ms. Ryan on behalf of his department. Kim White, ýPage=002 Column=006 OK,0084.03þ president of the Burlington County Clerks Association, and Amy Cosnoski, vice president of the association, also reflected on Ms. Ryan’s career.
    “We are honored tonight that we can be here,” Ms. White said. “On behalf of the association, we just wanted to say that, Pat, it’s bittersweet to see you go. You have been an asset to our profession as clerks. Your knowledge as a township clerk is invaluable.”
    Deputy City Clerk Grace Archer said, “We are really going to miss her” as she presented flowers to Ms. Ryan on behalf of the staff. “She has been a true superior.”
    Deputy Mayor Lynch said, “I thought about this all week and what to say and how to say it, and I have been in office for 24 years. Who am I going to call to vent? She has been amazing. When she would get that phone call, she knew something was wrong.”
    He continued, “There were a lot of issues that Pat dealt with, not only with me, public safety, but with the city in general. The only thing I could think of saying is, Patricia, thank you so much with all my heart. You truly meant a lot to me.”
    Commissioner Targonski said, “I’ve known Pat for a real long time on a personal level. I couldn’t find a more honest and straightforward, bright individual to run the city’s business than Pat Ryan.”
    According to Commissioner Targonski, the next individual who takes the city clerk position will have “really, really, huge shoes to fill.”
    “Hopefully, someone will come along and learn from her,” Commissioner Targonski said, adding Ms. Ryan agreed to help out for awhile.
    Valerie Malone, the mayor’s wife, said, “This is a bittersweet moment. It’s bitter in a sense that Pat won’t be in City Hall anymore although I don’t think that Joe Malone will ever let go of her, but it’s sweet in the sense that she gets to retire, and she’s in good health, and she will get to enjoy herself.”
    She continued, “Pat is like the work wife. She really is the other end. She has always been there for him. He can always count on her, and there aren’t a lot of people around like that.”
    Before concluding, Ms. Malone read the ad for Ms. Ryan’s position to the public.
    “None of these three commissioners could do that job,” Ms. Malone said after she read the job description. “I don’t think she is going to stay fully retired full-time.”
    Before ending the meeting, Mayor Malone read another proclamation that declares Aug. 1, 2013, as Patricia D. Ryan Day. A small celebration with cake and refreshments took place after the meeting.
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