Town clerk stepping away
Robbinsville – Shari Birchfield began the last month of a 20-year career with the Town of Robbinsville by training her two replacements.
On Jan. 27, Birchfield will step down as the town’s long-time water clerk – as well as interim finance director, a position she has held since July.
Her title has been water clerk since her first day in July 2002, but her job description was more akin to town clerk and in a small town with a small staff, she filled in whenever she was needed and wherever she could.
“It’s way more involved than what you’d think,” she said.
When Birchfield was named interim finance director – following the dismissal of Sonya Webster from that role in July – the timing could not have been less convenient for her.
Birchfield had just been approached about a job opportunity and planned to take her retirement on her 20th anniversary, but she delayed her plans to give the mayor and board of aldermen time to fill the two Town Hall positions.
“I could not leave the town hanging,” she said.
The weeks dragged on with the finance director position vacant, but once it was finally filled – by Annette Carver, who first turned down the offer in October, before accepting it in December – Birchfield was able to turn in her retirement papers, effective Jan. 27 and six months late.
A week after hiring Carver, the aldermen hired Amanda Gyongyos to replace Birchfield as water clerk.
With just four weeks before her scheduled retirement date, Birchfield could begin training the next generation of Town Hall staff.
But in delaying her own retirement by six months, Birchfield lost out on a job opportunity of her own.
“It’s always been about doing the right thing,” she said. “I feel good about what I tried to do.”
Water clerk is complicated enough as it is, but finance director for the town adds whole new layers of complications, regulations and professional standards. She credits Graham County Finance Officer Becky Garland and others in Garland’s office – including Tammie Phillips and Michelle Crisp – for helping her get through the past six months.
With one job opportunity fallen by the wayside, Birchfield said she hopes to get into some kind of work that is different than what she’s been doing for the last 20 years.
She’s thankful for her experience at Town Hall, which “brought me out of my shell” from her younger, more bashful version.
Indeed, if you live in Robbinsville or have had any dealings with Town Hall, you probably know and admire Birchfield.
Now with retirement around the corner, she plans to take a month off and get refreshed before reentering the job market.
“Two jobs takes a toll on you,” she said. “I’m going to rest up and then I’ll be ready and rarin’ to go.”
She’ll be departing Town Hall the same time as her husband, J.R. Birchfield, who works in the town’s public works department.