Strawder named Municipal Clerk

Last Updated on Friday, December 07, 2012 03:19 pm Written by SHAUN SMITH Friday, December 07, 2012 01:00 pm

From left are Mayor Nick Russo, Borough Clerk Amy Strawder of Galloway and Commissioners Jim Leeds and Dan Lawler.

LONGPORT – The friendly face of Amy Strawder will remain in the clerk’s office here but now she has a new title on her placard.

Strawder, of Galloway, was sworn in as municipal clerk for the Borough of Longport at the Wednesday, Dec. 5 Commission meeting by Mayor Nick Russo.

“This is a great day for Longport,” Russo said in making the motion to approve an ordinance naming Strawder municipal clerk.  

“Amy has been with Longport for a number of years. She did a commendable job on the police job before she came over to help us with the clerk position. She grasped these very difficult concepts very, very quickly. We're proud to have her and we're lucky to have her,” Russo said.

The former acting municipal clerk is not new to the borough.

Strawder came to Longport in 1989, transferring from the communications department of Egg Harbor Township Police Department into a similar role here. For more than 20 years she worked with Longport Borough Police and moved up the ranks as a supervisor of communications and records and as assistant to the chief of police.

In 2009, she was given the opportunity to move to the other side of Borough Hall and work as a deputy clerk.

“Mayor Russo gave me the opportunity. He and commissioners allowed me the opportunity to come here,” Strawder said Friday, Dec. 7. “I can never be thankful enough for the opportunity they gave me.”

She said it was completely different working in the clerk’s office, besides not having to go to work at all times of day since police communications is a 24-hour a day job.

“It was like a new world,” Strawder said. “After 20 years in the police department it was fun but I was anxious to try something else.”

She soon began taking courses to learn more about her new role in the borough which took her all over the state including Lakewood, New Brunswick and Trenton. She completed her training and passed the municipal clerk test, consisting of nearly 350 questions, on Oct. 18.

Strawder thanked her husband Bob and their children for supporting her while she continued her education.

She said she enjoys being inside borough hall and speaking to residents.

“I really enjoy it,” said Strawder. “I like being a people person and I like to be hands on and help them.”

She said the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy has given her a greater sense of responsibility in caring for residents’ needs.

“I love the fact you can help the people, especially now after the Sandy situation. They’re at wits end trying to figure all this out and I have the opportunity to make calls and help them as much as I can,” said Strawder. “I like it all, I find it very interesting. Every day is a new day, nothing is ever the same.”

Strawder is also the records custodian in the borough and said she is taking her new responsibilities very seriously.

“I’m making a list and checking it twice to do the best possible job for the borough that has given me so much opportunity,” Strawder said.