Swampscott Tabs Jared LaLiberte As New Full-TIme Town Clerk

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — An educational track that took Jared LaLiberte all around the work has led him back to town government in his home state of Massachusetts.

The Swampscott Select Board on Wednesday night voted unanimously to accept Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald's recommendation of the Lincoln Deputy Town Clerk as Swampscott's new full-time clerk.

LaLiberte succeeds Susan Duplin, who left the post two months ago for a position closer to her North Reading home.

LaLiberte graduated from BC High and went on to attend St. Andrew's University, the London School of Economics and Peking University in China before returning to Massachusetts to work in private industry and state government.

"I like to find ways we can make government more accessible to the average person," LaLiberte told the Select Board. "Looking at all the things that Swampscott is doing with inclusion, Swampscott is a very welcoming place. I really want to be a part of that."

His career path then led him to the Lincoln Town Clerk's office where he followed in the footsteps of his mother, who was an assistant town clerk.

"She knew everyone in town," LaLiberte said. "She was there for births, deaths, marriages. It's the great part. You get to be there for the good times, the best times in life.

"You get to be there when a baby is born. You get to be there for one of the best times in their lives when they're getting married, and be there for them in the tough times when someone passes."

LaLiberte relieves Michael Sullivan, who was hired as the town's interim town clerk just eight days ago.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)