KNOX — Traci Schanz says she loves her job as the Knox town clerk, a post she was elected to two years ago when the Republicans made a sweep of all town offices.

Schanz is enrolled in the Independence Party and is also running on the Republican and Conservative lines.

“I’m a people person,” Schanz said, explaining why she loves being town clerk. “I grew up here … I’m proud to be up here. I love seeing people when they come into Town Hall.”

Asked about her greatest accomplishments since being clerk, Schanz said, “We’ve organized the office. We’ve kept the website up-do-date as well as Facebook.”

Schanz stressed, “It’s been a team effort.”

Her biggest goal, she said, is to be able to take online payments for things like dog licenses and hunting and fishing licenses. Also, to be able to take credit-card payments.

Currently, she said, the town accepts just cash or checks, which is inconvenient for some residents.

“This will be an added convenience,” Schanz said of the new system. “We hope to have it up and running shortly,” although, she said, “no specific date” has been set.

This, too, she said was “a team effort” and has been in the works for eight to 10 months. “There’s a lot of paperwork and research going into it,” Schanz said, noting the system has to be compatible with current computer programs.

The Knox clerk is the only Hilltown clerk’s post that is part-time; the others are full-time.

If she’s re-elected, Schanz said, she’d like to add more hours that her office is open to the public. Schanz additionally holds a full-time job as an occupational therapist for children with disabilities.

Currently, the clerk’s office at the town hall is open Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 5 to 7 p.m., and on the first Saturday of each month from 8 a.m. to noon.

“I would like to add more nights and longer Saturday hours,” said Schanz. “I do take appointments,” she said, where she sets up times to meet with residents who can’t make it to the town hall during the regularly-scheduled hours.

Schanz also finds herself filling in with a variety of tasks not specified for the clerk. At the September town board meeting, for example, when the board agreed to spend $50 for a Christmas tree as part of an initiative by The Helderberg Family and Community Organization, and no one wanted to decorate the tree, Schanz volunteered.

“I already have the decorations ready to go,” she said this week, although she wanted to keep the theme a surprise.

“I don’t stay still for long,” she concluded.