NORTHAMPTON — The City Council has elected an interim city clerk to serve the remainder of Wendy Mazza’s term. Mazza retired earlier this month after 45 years in the office.

“The institutional knowledge she takes with her will never be replaced,” Pam Powers said before councilors voted to appoint her during their regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday.

Powers will serve the role until the November election, at which time voters will choose a permanent replacement. So far Powers and Robert Driscoll, of Florence, are in the running. Interested parties have until July 27 to gather signatures before names are officially placed on the ballot.

Powers has worked in City Hall since Mazza hired her as assistant clerk in 2011. Three years later she became clerk of the City Council.

Prior to that she led field operations for the local office of the decennial census and worked as a customer service and distribution manager for Graphics Technical International, formerly known as James River Graphics, for 14 years.

Powers also filled in as city clerk when Mazza was out on medical leave.

In answering a question from Ward 6 Councilor Marianne LaBarge, Powers said she’d support cross-training between the clerk’s staff and that of the registrar of voters, all of whom work in the city clerk’s office.

“I don’t think there’s an office in the city that can survive without cross-training,” Powers said.

Councilors, who know Powers well from her work as their clerk, praised her for her preparedness and attention to detail.

Powers said she looks forward to exploring new technology that could save the office effort.

“I plan on mapping out those processes and looking at ways to cut time,” she said.

Council President Bill Dwight said Powers’ opponent didn’t put himself forward for the interim position because he felt it was an ethical conflict to preside over an election for which he’s running, referencing the fact that elections are managed by the city clerk’s office.

But Dwight said the conflict is unavoidable, as Mazza has presided over her own elections for decades.

“I’m definitely going to pose this to the Board of Registrars and we’ll figure out what needs to be done,” Powers said. “I want the citizens to be assured there is going to be a process that’s transparent — it’s going to be wide open.”

Now that Powers has been sworn in as city clerk, Dwight said he must face the task of hiring a new clerk for the City Council. Interested parties should contact the city’s human resources department.

“That’s what keeps me up at night,” he said. “There’s not likely to be a replacement for Pam.”

Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.

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