Derby hires two new clerks

DERBY — There are two new faces in City Hall.

Angela Fenton, of Beacon Falls, a former Bethel assistant town/city clerk, and Stacy Casini, of Derby, were hired this week to fill two vacancies in the Town/City Clerk’s office.

“We got about 120 applicants from all over including out of state,” said Town/City Clerk Marc Garofalo, the city’s former four-term mayor. “We were looking for individuals who showed people skills, could multitask and paid attention to details.”

The two new employees fill vacancies left by Terri Kuskowski, who resigned in December to take a position with Farrel-Pomini’s corporate headquarters in Ansonia, and Meg Martins, who transferred to the city’s finance department.

Mayor Richard Dziekan said the 120 applicants were whittled down to 15 then 12 then five.

“We brought in clerks from the surrounding towns to help us with the screening and conduct the interviews,” he said. “There were a lot of qualified candidates, but we chose the two best.”

The pair will spend the next 60 days on probation, he said.

The positions pay about $47,000.

The city’s clerk’s office is one of the busier ones on the Naugatuck Valley. In addition to docketing real estate transactions, accepting lawsuits against the city and providing fishing, hunting and dog licenses, it also handles birth and death certificates generated by Griffin Hospital.

Fenton is a lifelong Valley resident and was employed by Bethel for the past two years. Prior to that, she worked as a real estate title searcher for about 20 years.

She is a graduate of Shelton High School and has a degree in psychology from Southern Connecticut State University.

“I always enjoyed coming here for work,” she said.

Casini is a lifelong Derby resident and worked in retail for the past 20 years. She is a graduate of Derby High School and has a degree in business management from Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport.