LEYDEN — After a year of service to the town, Town Clerk Paul McLatchy III has announced his resignation, effective Jan. 31, 2025.

McLatchy, 33, resides in North Adams and has held his position in Leyden since last October.

Prior to his time in Leyden, McLatchy worked for four years as the elected town clerk in Rowe. He also still works as town administrator in Ashfield, and has held that position since July 2021.

McLatchy was initially drawn to the Leyden position due to the flexible hours, with plans to put the extra money he could make toward renovating his new home. Considering his experience working with towns, McLatchy thought it would be the perfect fit and would be worth the drive.

“I love organizing, filing, paperwork, etc. I’m a strange person like that — I like creating order from chaos. ... When I learned Leyden was looking for a clerk, I immediately reached out,” McLatchy said. “The first time I drove to Leyden was for my interview, and I distinctly remember telling myself, ‘Even if you don’t get the job, at least it was a beautiful ride.’ I also knew Michele [Giarusso], the town coordinator, from my job in Ashfield and knew that she was a good person to work with and wouldn’t steer me wrong.”

After a year, McLatchy began to notice that his town clerk role took away much of his personal time, as he lives an hour away from Leyden and needs to come in two evenings per week.

“While I love my town clerk role, the benefits to going back to one job simply outweighed the benefits of having that additional income,” he said.

McLatchy advised that whoever replaces him should have strong organizational skills, as there’s a lot more to the job than people think. Computer skills are essential.

“Luckily the person hired wouldn’t be taking over until after the November election, so they’ll have some time to get acclimated to the office before they have to run any major events or undertake a large project,” McLatchy said. “I also said that I would stick around until January or until someone else could be found for the position, so it’s not going to be a situation where I hand them their keys to the office and walk off.”

McLatchy added that most people don’t realize how much needs to be done to prepare for events like elections. The town clerk is also responsible for birth and death records, marriage certificates and dog licenses, among other documents, and creating census reports.

When asked about his favorite memory in Leyden, McLatchy mentioned his experience at the March presidential primary.

“Not because anything big happened — quite the opposite,” he said. “We had such a good crew working and the day went so smoothly that it was a feeling of relief and calm that I had never experienced as a town clerk before. Elections are always stressful, but this one went by without so much as a hiccup. It actually made me nervous because the day was going so well I thought I was missing something. But in general it’s just been working with the townspeople and town officials. Everyone has been so warm and friendly since I got here.”

Anyone interested in taking over the town clerk job should send a resume and letter of interest to the town. McLatchy is also happy to speak with anyone interested in learning more about the position.

“After all, if I was unhappy in any way, I wouldn’t have given them six months’ notice,” he said. “While I am looking forward to having some more free time, I’m going to miss Leyden and there will always be a special place in my heart for the town.”

The job posting with more details is available at townofleyden.com/n/11228/Leyden-Town-Clerk-Opening.