GALLOWAY – With the municipal clerk leaving Thursday, Feb. 16, the Clerk’s Office will be staffed by a part-time Absecon clerk and fill-ins from the construction office, Mayor Don Purdy said Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Speaking at a Township Council meeting at the Municipal Complex, Purdy said Absecon’s part-time Deputy Clerk, Leticia M. Loeser, would serve in a similar role in Galloway.

Loeser has been in Absecon about three years and works part-time, less than 28 hours a week.

“Details haven’t all been worked out. We want her for three days a week,” the mayor said. “The clerk department needs attention and we’re working on it. We’re downsizing the construction office and we’ll get help from there, too.”

Council unanimously passed a resolution appointing Loeser as acting deputy clerk effective Friday, Feb. 17. She would be paid $20 an hour.

Absecon City Council President Jerry Falivene said Wednesday that Loeser had agreed to work part time in Galloway on her days off in Absecon.

“If there’s something we can do to accommodate this, we’re certainly going to do it,” Falivene said. “That includes shifting her hours or changing a day off if they need her and we’re able to do it.”

Falivene said he was glad for Loeser to have the opportunity.

“It’s great for Tich,” he said. “First she’ll get some good experience working in Galloway. And second she’ll have more income for herself and her family. It’s a win-win.”

Both Falivene and Purdy were quick to point out that it was not a shared services arrangement. If it were, she would be working full-time for one of the municipalities and splitting her time. In fact, she is working part time for each.

Purdy said it’s a down time of year for building so the construction office can spare personnel.

Planning and Zoning Board Administrator Pamela Alleyne would help fill in for the clerk, he said.

“We will be in contact with Kim if we have any issues, and we also have (Solicitor Michael) Blee as a backup,” said Interim Acting Township Manager Arch Liston.

Township Clerk Kimberley Hodsdon’s last day was scheduled to be Wednesday, Feb. 15.

She resigned on Monday, Jan. 30, giving a last day of Friday, Feb. 10, but agreed to stay on through Wednesday to cover Tuesday’s council meeting and finish up details the following day.

Hodsdon is returning to the City of Wildwood where she is human resources director – a position that has been left vacant since she took the Galloway clerk job Oct. 4.

Hodsdon followed Lisa Tilton as Galloway clerk after Tilton reached an agreement with the township to resign. Tilton has since filed $9 million in tort claims against the township, the Galloway Republican Club, the Atlantic County Board of Elections, Atlantic County itself and a number of officials.

An advertisement for the full-time position has been posted on the League of Municipalities website, www.njslom.org.