Raymond town clerk wins ‘Rookie of the Year’ award from peers

By Dina Mendros

Melanie Fernald has only been town clerk in Raymond for a little over a year, but town employees and her town clerk peers agree that she has made a difference. Last month, she was recognized for her hard work when she received the 2025 Town Clerk Rookie of the Year award from the Maine Town and City Clerks’ Association.

Raymond Town Clerk Melanie Fernald
was presented with the 2025 Maine
Town Clerk Rookie of the Year award 
in Bangor by the Maine Town and
City Clerks' Association on Sept. 10.
SUBMITTED PHOTO 

Fernald was hired as Raymond’s town clerk in April 2024. Prior to that she was the Westbrook deputy clerk for four years, a position she was promoted to after being the town’s assistant town clerk and administrative assistant for two years. She also worked as a legal assistant for Cumberland County’s criminal prosecution offices.

“I was completely surprised by the award,” she said in an email. “To me, it's a really nice recognition of the hard work I've been putting in.”

The qualifications for the award are that a town or city clerk nominated be in the profession for no more than five years, be a member in good standing of the Maine Town and City Clerks’ Association and has not previously received the award.

Raymond Town Manager Joseph Crocker said the town’s Finance Director Brenda Fox-Howard nominated Fernald for the award. She was nominated, he said, because of her dedication to the town of Raymond and her work as a town clerk.

“She has dedicated herself to the field and to the Maine Town and City Clerks’ Association,” Crocker said. “I can attest to Melanie's passion for being a town clerk and a great asset for our community.”

The Maine Town and City Clerks’ Association, which gives out the award, presented it at its Annual Business Meeting on Sept. 10 at Jeff’s Catering in Bangor. Members of Fernald’s family and town representatives attended the event to help her celebrate.

“I couldn’t be happier for her (in receiving the award) and offer words of wisdom and answer questions anytime I can help,” veteran Sanford City Clerk Susan Cote said. She said that Fernald is a 2024 graduate of the New England Municipal Clerks’ Institute, which is “an intensive program that assists clerks in developing and maintaining the high level of administrative expertise needed for success in the ever-changing role of day-to-day operations in a municipal clerk’s office and also to aid the clerk in acquiring necessary new skills and knowledge to excel and thrive in their position.”

The position of town clerk in communities throughout Maine and across the county encompasses many different roles and is often in the front line for residents dealing with their municipality’s government. The Raymond Town Clerk’s Office is no different, and as the town clerk, Fernald and her staff have a wide variety of responsibilities. They administer town elections and register voters. Other duties include registering vehicles; issuing hunting and fishing licenses; issuing birth, death and marriage records; tracking cemetery plot sales and more.

Originally from Westbrook, she went to Westbrook schools, then left to attend college at University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire where she studied psychology and earned a bachelor’s degree. Years later, she went back to school at Hesser College in Portsmouth and earned an associate degree in paralegal studies. After serving as an Assistant City Clerk for two and a half years in Westbrook, she worked for three and a half years as Westbrook’s Deputy City Clerk. Before that, Fernald was a Legal Assistant for two County Attorney offices for criminal prosecutions in New Hampshire.

Fernald says she enjoys her job and likes making a difference and helping Raymond residents. “I like knowing that I've played a helpful role in someone's important moments - whether it's helping to license a new dog, issuing a newborn's birth certificate or helping with death records and burial arrangements.”

Although she enjoys her work, Fernald says the job isn’t always easy. Balancing the many tasks of the job “while also giving the proper attention to all those who need services from us (including town staff, elected officials and members of the public) … is challenging,” she said.

Despite the challenges, Fernald said, she is always looking for ways to improve the way her office functions and to increase efficiency. “We're currently working with an agenda management software and a better website,” she said. “We hope that these changes will streamline some processes and will improve ways of communicating information with the citizens.”

In addition, Fernald said, “I always want to serve the public with transparency, respect and integrity.” <