In the public eye: Longtime Windham Town Clerk Linda Morrell makes tough job seem easy

Linda S. Morrell has served as Town Clerk for 
Windham for 27 years and spent seven years
prior to that as the Deputy Town Clerk. In her
current role she oversees elections in Windham,
manages the clerk's office and is the secretary
for the Windham Town Council.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE 

Editor’s note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce

Each day that Windham’s Town Clerk Linda S. Morrell arrives for work she’s wearing a smile and the veteran administrator is the first to admit she loves her job and everything about it.

Morrell moved with her parents to Windham at 14 in her freshman year in high school and graduated from Windham High School in 1978. She started working as a deputy clerk for the Town of Windham and following seven years of serving in that position, she has spent the last 27 years as the Windham Town Clerk, a role she doesn’t take for granted.

“I’ve never regretted taking this job, I love doing this,” Morrell said. “I really enjoy this job and like everything I do and meeting the people. It’s such a variety of different tasks and is constantly changing. You can never be bored doing this job.”

In her duties as Town Clerk, Morrell serves as Windham’s Supervisor of Elections, be it municipal, county, state or presidential elections. She also oversees two full-time and one part-time town clerk’s office staff members and she’s responsible for the town’s dog registrations; the sales of hunting and fishing licenses; officiating weddings; maintaining  the town’s vital statistics; state boat and automobile registrations; providing notary service; swearing elected municipal officials into office; helping collect tax payments for the town; and serving as the secretary for the Windham Town Council.

Before coming to work for the town, Morrell spent eight years as a ballot clerk during elections and was a stay-at-home mother. Her husband was a shift worker and when she was offered the job as deputy clerk over the phone, she eagerly accepted, launching a lengthy career of service to the public.

According to Morrell, her greatest accomplishment as Windham Town Clerk through the years has been that the elections she oversees have run smoothly and been without controversy.

“Knock on wood, but there have been no issues ever with elections since I’ve been here,” Morrell said. “So far every election has run smoothly with only one recount in which a challenger lost by five votes to the incumbent and asked for a recount. When we recounted the votes, the challenger was defeated by that same total of five votes. I really feel good about how I run an election, you always want things to go smoothly, and they have.”

Her greatest challenge as Windham Town Clerk is staying knowledgeable about updated rules and regulations and being able to educate the public and training staff members about those changes, she said.

“We don’t make the rules, we’re just an agent of the state,” Morrell said.

In 2007, Morrell was awarded lifetime certification for her duties from the state of Maine at Maine Municipal Association. That meant she served the association in various capacities and continued her education  to stay current on laws and procedures and completing all lifetime certification requirements. She also met all qualifications and requirements to be enrolled as a member of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks allowing her to use the title of Certified Municipal Clerk in all 50 states.

With all her duties, Morrell puts in many long hours and late nights especially during election season and attending every Windham Town council meeting every other week.

“I truly enjoy working with the people we serve and helping somebody just about every day,” she said. “Or at the very least if we’re not able to help them, pointing them in the right direction to where they can find help.”

Happily married for 42 years and the mother of two grown sons, Morrell lives on a farm in town and says she loves to go on walks with friends, going to the movies with her husband, and reading.

Although much of her time is spent overseeing the Windham Town Clerk’s office and despite the variety of tasks she handles daily, Morrell says that her work remains as meaningful to her now as it was the day she started.

“I want everyone to know that we are here for them whenever they need us,” Morrell said. “We all enjoy our jobs here and we try to be friendly all of the time. We’re fortunate to have a great staff here and the public really seems to like them. I love my job and it is a privilege to serve this community as the Town Clerk.” <