Patti Brochu elected president of MTCCA

October 27, 2006
By Greta Sproul

 
  Old Town city clerk Patty Brochu has been elected president of the Maine
Town and City Clerk’s Association. Brochu is the first association member north of Skowhegan to hold the position in the last 25 years. The last "northerner" to act as association president was Brewer city clerk Archie Verrow.

"It's an exciting thing," Brochu said, from behind a desk piled high with
election season paperwork and assorted notes. "I'm not sure why the position
has tended to stay in the southern part of the state. I think it probably has something to do with how much time they perceive a person as having."

Like all MTCCA presidents, Brochu had to be nominated and recommended for
the position. But unlike her predecessors, Brochu hopes to remain on the
job for the full term allotted to MTCCA presidents.

"The position can go from one to two years," she said. "So far, no one has
gone past one year. We'll see how the first one goes, but the way I look at
it, after the first year, you're just starting to get up to speed."

Anyone who has ever seen Brochu in action can attest to her ability to not
only get up to speed, but to stay there. As Old Town city clerk, her daily
contribution to city government goes well beyond any written job description
that goes with the title. Not that Brochu would ever admit to being
anything other than a hard-working municipal employee. Even in her new
capacity as MTCCA president, she remains unwaveringly modest. When asked to
give a basic rundown of her basic duties as an ordinary city clerk, she waves a hand toward the multitude of paperwork on her desk.

"What is my job description?" she repeats. "Well, let's see...as city clerk,
I'm the election supervisor, the keeper of vital records, agent for Inland
Fisheries and Wildlife, I keep the minutes at city council meetings."


In assuming the duties of the association president, Brochu will be adding even more responsibilities to that list. She already teaches a course for new town and city clerks, and now she will meet with a six member executive board an average of five to ten times a year to discuss ways to increase the proficiency of town and municipal clerks.

The Maine Town and City Clerk’s Association currently has 500 members and offers three levels of certification: original certification, re-certification, and lifetime certification. The MTCCA also has an active lobbying committee which provides association members with a voice at legislative hearings on issues pertinent to municipal clerks. While town and city clerks are not required to join the MTCCA, they are strongly encouraged to become members.

And now that Patti Brochu is MTCCA president, an organization already devoted to increasing efficiency and maintaining workplace professionalism can’t help but reach an even higher standard of proficiency.