Gray Enjoys Citizen Interaction of Clerk's Office

After 16 years of holding various government positions prior to becoming town clerk, Claire Gray feels like she has finally found the position most suitable to her, Westfield’s town clerk.

Gray took over as the town clerk of Westfield after the untimely passing of the late Bernie Heeney. Before that, she had served in the state department of community affairs, worked as an administrative assistant in the fire and recreational departments, and was most recently an executive assistant for the mayor and his administration.

As someone who is very customer service oriented, Gray finds the clerk's office to be a natural fit. Also, because of her previous positions, Gray has great knowledge of other departments in town and connections with the people that work in them. This allows her to get her job done faster and makes it easier to help people.

According to Gray, one of her responsibilities as town clerk that she takes part in most often is sitting in on the council meetings and recording the minutes. One of the things she finds most interesting about her job is that “there is so much history in these offices.” She holds all the minute books, ordinances, resolutions, any written record you can think of in her office. In fact, a goal of Gray’s is to transfer all of that information to electronic sources to make the job easier for future town clerks.

As town clerk, Gray has the chance to work with public officials from all across the spectrum. However, her favorite part about her job is working with the mayor and council.

“They’re all intelligent, caring people who are really just working to make Westfield a better place to live,” said Gray.

Despite the perks of working in such a position, there are aspects of the job that Gray finds less favorable. As town clerk, she is required to open public records to any citizen who asks. While she enjoys doing this for residents, Gray does not like when private companies or self-serving people seek out public records to promote their own self-interests.

In essence, the town clerk is the cog in the wheel of Westfield.

“This is the central location for all the information in Westfield," Gray said. "If anyone has a question, the best place for them to start is right here. If we can’t help them, we will gladly refer them to the right place.”