Town clerk retires

#Middlebury

Middlebury Town Clerk Edith Salisbury, shown here behind her desk at Middlebury Town Hall, is entering 2020 as a retired town employee. Her last day on the job is Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019. (Marjorie Needham photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

A familiar face will be missing from Middlebury Town Hall Jan. 1, 2020. Longtime Middlebury Town Clerk Edith Salisbury’s retirement starts that day. Among the many folks who will miss her is Assistant Town Clerk Brigitte Bessette. “Working with Edie was like a gift every day,” Bessette said. “I consider myself very fortunate.”

Salisbury said she plans to sleep in on her first day of retirement. “It will seem really strange not to get in my car and drive to work,” she said.

She has been driving to town hall to work for 33 years. In January 1986, she started working part-time as an assistant to then-Town Clerk Doris Valentine. She became a full time assistant in 1987 when Valentine retired and Alicia “Lee” Ostar became town clerk. In July 2003, Ostar retired and Salisbury became town clerk.

Salisbury said she has seen a lot of changes in her office over the years, largely involving computerizing records. Land records now are available online, and mortgages and deeds are recorded electronically. Documents that used to be microfilmed are now scanned. She said the whole system was revamped when that happened. She said it’s likely conveyance taxes (a fee paid when real property changes hands) will become payable electronically in 2020.

As town clerk, she has been responsible for everything from dog licenses to land records, marriage licenses, minutes and agendas for all town boards and commissions, issuing absentee ballots and sending election reports to the state, to list part of her duties.

While her office is the custodian for birth certificates, most births don’t take place here. The original birth certificate is issued by the town or city where the baby was born. During her 16-plus years as town clerk, Salisbury said she issued a grand total of two birth certificates for residents who chose to have home births.

She said her favorite part of the job was meeting the public. “I’ve met so many good people over the years,” she said, “residents, title searchers, and more.”

The strangest phone call she recalled was from a person who wanted to know whether or not they could have llamas on their property. “I transferred that to zoning,” she said.

She said of the town clerk’s office, “The one thing I hope is that everyone who enters this office is treated with respect. That’s our way here.”

First Selectman Edward B. St. John said of the 30 years he has worked with Salisbury in one capacity or another, “It has been 30 years of bliss, She’s a true representative of being the best in a public servant. She worked with everyone. I never heard her get cross with anyone.”

Barbara Whitaker, St. John’s executive secretary, has worked with Salisbury 16 years She said she is going to miss her a lot. “There is nobody like her,” she said.

Assessor Chris Kelsey marveled at Salisbury’s institutional knowledge and said Salisbury always bends over backwards to help people. and Assessor’s Clerk Patricia Traver said Salisbury was very pleasant and professional.

Salisbury said she plans to take her time adjusting to her new life. Friends have told her it takes about a year to fully adjust to being retired.

Once she has settled into retirement, she said she and her husband, Jack, likely will take a trip to England, do some traveling and visit with their kids. “We have no big plans,” she said. However, like most homeowners, the couple has various updating and repair projects to do at their home. She also may volunteer more and, if she gets bored, she may get a little job.