Brookhaven Town Clerk Donna Lent Retires After Nine Years In Office

FARMINGVILLE, NY — Brookhaven’s longtime town clerk, Donna Lent, announced she would retire last week, leaving her position open for a special election.

Lent, 70, of Blue Point, has served three terms in office since 201 after succeeding Patricia Eddington. She told Newsday that she planned to move to South Carolina

In the interim, Deputy Town Clerk Lauren Thoden will take up Lent’s former post until a special election is held to fill the position. Romaine told Newsday he expects to set a date for the special election next week.

During her time as town clerk, Lent streamlined procedures to increase efficiency and decrease waste, overseeing the implementation of an Electronic Content Management System, which included the digitization of over 20 million pages of records, as well as the creation of the Central Scanning Repository to digitize records in real-time, town officials said.

Lent also reorganized the town’s Archived Records Center, bringing the records “into compliance” with the state’s Archive and Record Administration guidelines, according to officials.

Lent has “a long history of public service and dedication to the community,” town officials said, noting that she was “a stalwart volunteer” for the Sachem Athletic Club, a co-ed sports program where she was a coach and mentor to “numerous young athletes.”

Town officials credited Lent, saying her “invaluable guidance and oversight was instrumental in the expansion of the program, enabling hundreds of additional students to benefit from the program.”

Lent, an independence party member, is the president of the National Women’s Political Caucus, a bipartisan, not-for-profit organization with a mission working toward more women in elected and appointed office.

Romaine told Newsday that Lent will now be able to have time for her family.

“She runs a great meeting,” he told the outlet, adding, “She has a firm and fair hand. … “She is the memory of this town.”