by Alex Brooks
Petersburgh Supervisor Siegfried Krahforst announced at the May 19 meeting of the Petersburgh Town Board that Callie Crisp had resigned as Petersburgh Town Clerk. He said he had received her resignation that very day.
[private]Crisp said in a telephone interview the next day that she resigned for personal reasons and health reasons and that it had nothing to do with the budget problems or staffing problems that the Town has had this year. Crisp said she had expected the Town Clerkship to be her career, and the change in circumstance is sudden and unexpected.
She has not been in for her office hours for several weeks, and she said she has had “a very rough few weeks.” Crisp said she plans to share more fully with the public in the weeks to come the problems that led to her resignation, but she is not ready to do so at present.
Crisp said she is committed to helping those who will step in to take her place with the transition and expects to spend time training her successor. The Town Board named Deputy Town Clerk Brigitta Schmidt as Acting Town Clerk. Schmidt has agreed to take the job, but Town Board Member Denise Church told the public that Schmidt is taking it reluctantly and has some reservations about whether she wants to continue in the job indefinitely.
Church sent the Eastwick Press this email the next day: “Callie Crisp’s resignation as Petersburgh Town Clerk is a very unfortunate situation for both Callie and the Town. I believe I can speak for the Town Board to say we very much appreciate Callie’s hard work and dedication for the Town of Petersburgh. She will be sorely missed. We wish her good health and personal success. We are hopeful that everyone will recover from this difficult time very soon. It will be all hands on deck for the Town officials as we move through this transition. We kindly ask for Petersburgh residents’ patience and support. Thank you.”
Town Clerk hours are temporarily reduced. The new hours will be posted at the Town Hall, the Post Office, and on the web site, www.petersburgh.org.[/private]