Next East Hampton Town Clerk Will Have a Learning Curve: Two Newcomers on Ballot

The two candidates for East Hampton Town clerk agree: There will be a learning curve if they are the one to take office next year.

Michael Hansen, a Democrat, and Jeff Miller, who is running on the Republican line, are vying to replace Carole Brennan, who is retiring at the end of this year after helming the Town Clerk’s office since 2013. Brennan has no party affiliation, referring to herself as “a blank.”

Brennan has worked for the town since 1989. Three years after she started, she moved over to the town clerk’s office. Then, in 1994, she became deputy town clerk, a position she held until 2013, when voters ushered her into the top spot. That is to say, she has, and had when first elected, a wealth of experience.

Neither Hansen or Miller have worked in that office, and as a result, both anticipate a learning curve, if they win next month.

The town clerk’s office is in many ways the face of Town Hall, as Miller has frequently said on the campaign trail — and the workload reflects that. The clerk is responsible for recording the activities of the town government; the clerk is the record-keeper for vital town documents; the clerk issues beach permits, dog licenses and music permits; the clerk processes public records requests.

Both candidates sat down for in-person interviews at the East Hampton Library.

Michael Hansen

To prepare for taking on the responsibility, Hansen has been speaking with Brennan and researching operations of other town clerk offices, including in Southampton Town and Southold Town.

Hansen, 59, holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami. A few decades later, in 2016, he got a master’s degree in early childhood education from Bank Street College of Education, where he worked for nine years. Since 2017, he has worked locally as a technology consultant, helping with online presences for organizations like the Montauk Historical Society and the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation. He’s lived in Wainscott since 2017.

“It’s a lot of responsibility,” Hansen said of the town clerk’s job. “But I’m not working alone. I have a great team with incredible institutional knowledge, and that is a great resource, and any new job is going to have a learning curve. I think you might be able to realize that, because I got a master’s degree in my 40s, I’m a lifelong learner, and I welcome the opportunity.”

Hansen is campaigning on expanded payment choices, which would include credit cards, and alternative payment methods, like Google Pay or Apple Pay.

Speaking from the perspective of a technology consultant, he said he wants to make the websites more user-friendly. This would include creating the ability to register online for beach permits and dog licenses, which he hopes would make the office more convenient for the townspeople.

“Certainly, there will be a learning curve in the town clerk’s office. I have spent four years on the Planning Board, and the Planning Board is about procedures and process and site plan review and reviewing septic and lighting and landscaping,” Hansen said. “When I work with a client, I have a sheet with all the pertinent information, and I have backups of those documents, and this is what the town clerk does: Archive information.”

Hansen maintains deep roots in the town. He is a direct descendant of Ezekiel Sandford, who built the bridge for which Bridgehampton got its name. Sandford also constructed a saltbox house around 1680 that is still standing.

“In fact, I was told that the house is the oldest European house in the United States that has never been sold,” Hansen said. “It has been handed down from generation to generation since the 1600s.”

Jeff Miller

Like Hansen, Miller said there would be a learning curve, should he take over as town clerk.

Miller, 55, is a 13th generation member of the Lester family in East Hampton. A Springs resident, Miller attended East Hampton High School, where he graduated in 1988. A year later, he started working as a “regular old laborer” with East Hampton Village. He stayed there for 36 years, eventually rising to the position of heavy equipment operator, before retiring earlier this year.

For 35 years, he has volunteered with the Springs Fire Department, including three years as chief. For 18 years, the town’s fire chiefs have also elected Miller to serve as one of four Suffolk County Fire Coordinators. There, he coordinated mutual aid between departments.

Asked what he knows about the position of town clerk, Miller said in part: “The town clerk is basically the record-keeper and organizes everything that comes into the clerk’s office from every different direction, from the Town Board and such. It’s basically being able to multitask and manage people because you have several people working under you in the office, doing permits, certificates, whether it be mass gathering permits, whether it be death certificates, whether it be parking permits, dump permits and such. Everyone has their role and their niche, but you have to be the overseer of what goes on there.”

“You have statutes and parameters you must work within,” he said. “You don’t have leeway. It is a policy adherence job, not a policy making job.”

As for Hansen’s plan to overhaul the town’s website, Miller said that wouldn’t fall within the purview of the town clerk — the IT Department would handle that. However, he did say the town clerk could give input, if an overhaul was planned.

Miller said he would consult with Southampton Town on the best ways to update the payment options, which he said is necessary to bring the office into the 21st century.

“The clerk should be aware of the people in the town, know the people of the town and what’s going on here. That’s what makes me uniquely qualified,” Miller said. “I’ve been involved in so many different aspects of the town.”