BATH — Mary Howe knew she had big shoes to fill when she took over Jan. 2 from Mary White, who had retired after two decades as city clerk.

With two special elections to tackle three months to the day later, it’s needless to say the Brunswick resident had to hit the ground running as interim clerk. But with the City Council expected Wednesday, July 3, to make her the permanent clerk, it would seem Howe successfully passed her trial run.

Howe

She essentially had “a six-month trial period” following White’s retirement, Howe said Monday.

Howe was Freeport’s deputy clerk from 2008-2017 and town clerk in Woolwich for a few months in 2017, and became Bath’s deputy clerk under White Jan. 2, 2018.

A year to the day later the City Council unanimously named her interim clerk, and City Manager Peter Owen and City Council Chairwoman Mari Eosco offered her the permanent position last month.

Howe, who is married and has two grown children and three grandchildren, said she faced several challenges in the past few months. She replaced one deputy and trained another, and conducted a special election April 2 to fill sudden vacancies caused by the resignation of former state Rep. Jennifer Dechant and the death of City Councilor Bernie Wyman. She also ran Bath’s school budget referendum on June 11.

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“It’s been getting easier,” Howe said. “At first it was a little daunting, because I’d just come into this and I tried to do crash-course training with (White) before she left. But there was still a lot to learn, and she had already left. But Mary’s been great; if I ever have a question I can call her.”

“Mary Howe had a nice, solid year with Mary White, learning how the clerk’s office works, and she’s had some time to have a couple elections under her belt and learn the ropes,” Eosco said Monday. “She will continue to learn, and we’re excited to work with her moving forward.”

 

 


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