Patricia Hullfish is stepping down from her duties as Plainsboro’s township clerk — a position she has held for more than 25 years — for a new and parttime position as Mayor Cantu’s assistant.##M:[more]##
As Hullfish was cleaning out her desk at the municipal building last week in anticipation of the move, she recalled some of the everyday funny things that have happened in her office over the past 25 years.
Once a resident called up asking if he could walk his dog on the other side of the street. Another time, someone called and asked how much it would cost for him to attend the free rabies clinic. One resident even called to ask the clerk’s office whether he could force his neighbor to remove the leaves that had fallen into his pool from the neighbor’s tree.
“I’ve learned that people call here for everything,” Hullfish joked.
For a quarter of a century, Hullfish, 60, has fielded calls from residents, spent 17 to 18 hours working on election days, attended Plainsboro Township Committee meetings, sent out proper notices and gathered material for those meetings, worked on issuing residents’ passports, and performed a plethora of other responsibilities that come with the job. But now, if approved by the Township Committee at its meeting on Wednesday, February 13, she will leave the clerk’s office for a new position as the executive assistant to Mayor Peter Cantu.
“It’s a lot doing this job, but I like every minute of it,” Hullfish said in reference to being the township clerk. “For me, it was the perfect job to have for my personality, but I’ll be glad to give it up right now.”
The new position requires 28 hours a week, and will give Hullfish the opportunity to “back off a little, and continue to work here until it was time for me to retire,” she says. Having to attend night meetings in addition to full-time work and other requirements of the job have been too much recently for Hullfish, who wants to spend more time with her husband at a shore house.
And acting as the mayor’s assistant will still allow Hullfish to be involved in Plainsboro government, especially since she was already performing the duties of this newly created position as the clerk. The new position was created and introduced at the Township Committee’s January 23 meeting. It separates the clerk’s usual duties from those associated with helping the mayor — both of which were previously combined into the clerk’s position.
The executive assistant position will require Hullfish to act as a liaison between the mayor, various governmental or private sector organizations and the public. She will also be responsible for coordinating the mayor’s schedule and she will assist in the preparation of news releases, speeches, bulletins, pamphlets, and other material.
Hullfish originally believed her workload would slow down after Cantu finished his tenure as the president of the state League of Municipalities and some of his numerous other activities, but “there’s a lot going on, and you just need to be available to take care of those kinds of things,” she said.
She said the new position gives her the opportunity to spend time with her husband, Gerald, a retired electrician, but at the same time, it will enable her to stay involved in working for the township, where she has lived for almost 35 years.
Service to the community has been ingrained in her blood. Hullfish’s father, Jerome Becker, once served as the president of the Board of Health where they lived. He also served as mayor of Hightstown while Hullfish was in high school. Her mother was a nurse, and cared for the seven children, including Hullfish, in the family.
Before becoming the township clerk, Hullfish served on the Township Council, which, at that time, was an advisory board to the Township Committee under the New England form of government. The council was disbanded in the late 1980s. She also served on various committees, including the cable TV, recreation, and Master Plan committees before getting the job as township clerk.
Even while doing that job, she also served on the International Institute of Municipal Clerks and has been serving on the township Planning Board for the past 21 years. She will remain on the board, she said.
Since becoming the clerk, Hullfish has seen Plainsboro through some of its major projects. “When I started working here, there were 5,”000 people,” she said. “Now we have almost 22,”000.”
Everything from the Mount Laurel and affordable housing decisions to the preservation of the township’s open space, to the move into the new municipal building, has occurred during her tenure. Hullfish was clerk when the current library was being constructed, and has been helping with the fundraising on the new library. “Recreationally, there are so many facilities now, so many parks and activities for people of all ages that have just expanded so much,” Hullfish said. The quality of life has improved as the population grew, and the township has become more diverse, she said.
One of Hullfish’s proudest accomplishments was her role in having the township’s Veterans Memorial designed and erected in 2003. The already existing World War II veterans monument at the corner of Edgemere Avenue and Plainsboro Road was moved to become part of the new memorial, located on the south of the municipal building.
For Hullfish, whose parents both were World War II veterans and whose son, Patrick, was serving in Iraq at the time of the memorial’s dedication, “that’s was a very longtime goal of mine. I think it has really changed the look of the municipal center. You would be surprised how many people come and sit on the benches.” Patrick and her other son, Matthew, are also both electricians, like their father.
Hullfish has also seen domestic partnerships and civil unions evolve in addition to marriages, and has seen the township’s passport program expand since it began eight years ago.
Now, those responsibilities will fall to Deputy Clerk Carol Torres, who will serve as Acting Clerk until she finishes her clerk certification. “I think she’s got a good handle on the job,” says Hullfish. “I’m happy for her; it’s a really good opportunity for her to move up.” — Cara Latham
