For some, replacing the freshly retired 48-year municipal veteran Bob Campbell might be an intimidating prospect, but for incoming Clearview Township clerk Pamela Fettes, it’s one of the attractions of the job.
“One of the main reasons I applied to this job is for stability,” said Fettes, whose career in municipal administration had most recently taken her to Meaford, where she witnessed a high rate of staff turnover. “When I found out that Bob had been here as long as he had, I figured Clearview Township must be doing something right.”
A native of Mount Forest, Fettes got her start in municipal work with her hometown municipality, the Township of Wellington North, when she took a summer student job there while completing a political science degree at Wilfred Laurier University. “I was really lucky to have that opportunity,” said Fettes, explaining that rather than hire a costly consultant to perform a review of its recreation facilities and services, that year Wellington North decided to put its summer student in charge of the job. Fettes was the lead on the review, and now, 10 years later, she’s watching from afar as some of the larger capital recommendations proposed in the review are being put into place.
“That job made me fall in love with municipal politics,” she said. “I saw that you can make a real difference at the grassroots level, if you’re willing to work hard and engage with Council.”
Fettes was so excited by the experience that she immediately took a contract in the clerk’s department at the City of Brockville, electing to continue working while completing her undergraduate degree by correspondence. When she graduated, she moved on to a full-time job at the Region of Waterloo. But in Brockville she had grown accustomed to living by the water, so when the opportunity came to take a job with the Municipality of Meaford, she jumped at it.
Along the way, she earned her Municipal Administration diploma and worked toward her Certified Municipal Officer accreditation, and by the time she left Meaford she had risen to the position of Director of Legislative Services – that municipality’s title for its clerk.
Fettes started with Clearview Township in mid-March, and has enjoyed working alongside Campbell, who will officially resign his position at the end of April. “Bob’s been wonderful,” she said. “He’s welcomed me with open arms.”
The clerk’s role, for those unfamiliar with the structure of municipal government, is to act as a secretary to Council. Fettes will set meeting agendas, log minutes, and write bylaws. “Basically, everything that goes to Council is touched by me in some way,” she explained. In addition, clerks are responsible for municipal elections, and at Clearview Township the clerk also handles Freedom of Information requests and manages the bylaw enforcement department. Fettes will be assisted by Township deputy clerk Brenda Falls, whom she also said had been a great help over the past month.
Fettes, who lives in Collingwood and basically switched her commute from a westward one to an eastward one when she transfered from Meaford to Clearview, is a committed community volunteer who was involved with several organizations and events in Meaford. “I think it’s a great way to get out into the community, and meet people as individuals,” she said. She’s currently on the lookout for volunteer opportunities here in Clearview, so if you have something in mind, be sure to get in touch.