Longtime city clerk retires after lauded run

Jenny Marder

City Clerk Connie Brockway will step down Tuesday after 36 years of

work in the city because of a family illness, she announced suddenly

Wednesday.

Brockway, 62, is an institution in the city and one of its most

prominent figureheads, as well as a role model for her colleagues,

they said. She was elected to office of city clerk in 1988, but has

worked for the department since 1968.

“She is the best elected official I’ve ever worked with,” City

Councilman Dave Sullivan said. “She takes so seriously the job of

city clerk to make sure the public is informed. She is always making

sure that things are noticed and that the public is aware of things.”

Colleagues also praise her for a deeply-rooted empathy toward her

employees.

“If anybody were to say something about Connie, [they’d say] she

is out for employee rights,” Deputy City Clerk Liz Ehring said. “You

wouldn’t find a person more empathetic and sympathetic to person’s

feelings as far as rights.”

Brockway arrived at City Hall when he was 27 during her lunch hour

to interview for a position in the city’s fire department. But due to

a paperwork mishap, she was sent to the wrong interview and instead

found herself in the city clerk’s office.

In hindsight, it was the best thing that could have happened,

Brockway said.

“I’m glad they made that mistake and I’m glad I got sent to the

wrong place,” she said.

Brockway owes much of her success and institutional knowledge to

the preceding city clerk and her own mentor, Alicia Wentworth, who

retired in 1988, she said.

But her favorite part of the job was the City Council meetings,

she said.

“I talk to other city clerks and their meetings are half an hour

or a couple of hours,” Brockway said. “There’s so much public

participating in our city and there are so many interesting subjects,

with the council deliberating and the public weighing in.”

The hardest part, she said, is getting the details right and

insisting on procedure.

“Procedure can be very irritating to people, but it helps to stop

problems before they occur,” she said

Brockway has recommended that the City Council appoint Ehring as

the city clerk until her term expires in November.

The City Council has two options: appointing a city clerk or

holding a special election before November. If no one is appointed in

60 days, the law requires that a special election be held.

“My guess is with the cost of a special election, City Council

will have to appoint someone,” Sullivan said.

Ehring said that she admires Brockway for her “forthrightness and

attention to addressing all requirements of the city clerk’s office.”

Brockway said she will miss her colleagues and the citizens she

has worked with.

“Almost all of it has been the most pleasurable job a person could

have,” Brockway said.