Bernards Municipal Clerk To Be President of MCANJ

Basking Ridge, NJ -- Bernards Township Municipal Clerk Denise Szabo has been appointed at President in the Municipal Clerks’ Association of New Jersey (MCANJ).

"Serving as the President of MCANJ is both a privilege and an honor and I look forward to this opportunity over the next year," Szabo said in a release. "I thank the Bernards Township Committee and Administration for supporting me in this endeavor.”

Szabo has strong roots to the community as she lived on Haas Road in Basking Ridge for 41 years, and with her late husband Bill, where they raised four children.

She have served as the Bernards Township Municipal Clerk for 20 years and has a total of 32 years of municipal services, having served 30 of those years in Bernards.

“Being a municipal clerk takes hard work and diplomacy. It involves long hours, and there is an ever-changing landscape of elected officials and legislation," Szabo stated in a release. "Bernards is a community I love and take great pride in being a small part of. Being the municipal clerk affords me the opportunity to have a positive impact on local government. Many Municipal Clerks share the same sentiment and are dedicated to the profession."

Szabo will be sworn in by Bernards Township Mayor Carol Bianchi on April 26 at the Annual Education Conference. However, she will not officially take office until July 1.

The municipal clerk is the oldest of public servants in local government along with the tax collector. The profession traces back to Biblical times.

Here are statutory duties of a municipal clerk :

• Serve as the secretary to the municipal corporation
• Serve as the secretary to the governing body
• Serve as the local election officer
• Serve as the administrator officer responsible for acceptance of applications for licenses and permits
• Serve as the township’s records manager

(Photo provided: Denise Szabo)