To The Editor:

The Berne Town Clerk recently had a letter touting great work feats that are basically standard duties and well compensated for. Here in Berne, our town clerk is now getting paid over $50,000 a year, plus benefits.

The Berne Town Clerk office hours are not constituent friendly, especially for those working off the Hill. Outside of the Saturday hours, which are not available during the summer, there are zero evening hours or ultra-early hours.

Anyone who has thrown out an item at the transfer station that requires a permit, quickly discovers many of the town clerk hours do not coincide with hours of the transfer station, so that becomes a short-circuited venture. If the town transfer station requires permits from the Berne Town Clerk, then the clerk’s office should be open.

Additionally, if one is to make a trip in town to the transfer station, people should be able to consider other in-town services that can be taken care of, such as obtaining fishing or hunting licenses. Why should residents have to take time off from work to see our full-time town clerk during the current scant hours?

Berne Town Clerk candidate Bill Keal recently won, by huge margins, in the Conservative and Independence primaries because he intends to expand work hours and have the Berne Town Clerk offices available during transfer-station hours. It’s not too much to ask for full-time work for full-time pay.

Karl Nichols

Berne