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11/07/2018 07:30 AMWhen she started out, Stacy Gravino was interested in science. Now, she’s the East Haven town clerk, and she’s found her earlier career has been helpful.
Stacy went to Albertus Magnus College for a degree in biology. Though she initially thought her education would take her more directly into the medical field, by the time it was over, she’d had enough of school.
Before she was elected as town clerk in 2010, Stacy was a research assistant at Yale University.
“It was research labs working…with prenatal diagnosis for human chromosomes to see if there were any abnormalities with pregnant women,” Stacy says.
Studying prenatal chromosomes meant that Stacy’s research and the diagnoses to which it contributed dealt with real-world hardships. Though she never worked directly with the patients, the emotions that came with negative diagnoses weren’t easy.
“You have to learn to balance your emotions…Sometimes that can be a little bothersome,” she says.
She moved from that department to a lab studying the yeast genome, which is similar enough to the human genome to allow experimentation with certain therapies.
“I transitioned out of [the prenatal research labs] and went on to the university side. The hospital side was a little crazier.”
She worked for Yale for 17 years before she decided she needed a change, so she ran for town clerk.
“I enjoy interacting with the people of the town and I wouldn’t be anywhere without my staff,” Stacy says. “But election time is very challenging.”
Stacy’s job as town clerk has the same sort of behind-the-scenes technical work she’s familiar with from her science background. She has to handle licensing, property questions, state statutes, and regulations, plus all of the registration and preparation that comes from election season.
“My background in science has helped me,” Stacy says. “My analytical training and thinking has helped me keep everything on track here.”
Even with her logistical background, Stacy finds ways to introduce creativity and fun to her work as a volunteer and as town clerk. Until 2017, she put that background to use working on the crafts section of the annual Fall Festival. She still works with the East Haven Historical Society today.
For Halloween, she and Bob Petrucelli of the Social Services Department organized a fundraiser for the animal shelter.
“Bob...had come up and we were trying to figure out how we could get everybody involved to dress up, because everybody wants to dress up for Halloween,” Stacy says.
The East Haven Animal Shelter had just adopted eight dogs from the Carolinas, all displaced by the hurricanes that recently struck there. To get the dogs their shots as well as spayed and neutered, Stacy said it cost the shelter at least $250 per animal.
Animal control officers “Owen [Little] and Sean Godejohn go above and beyond for the town, for the animals,” Stacy says. “We thought that to give back to them to let them know that the town cares about what they do.”
So, for $5, Town Hall employees had the opportunity to dress up for Halloween. Stacy says most people did participate.
“[We] got a little camaraderie around Town Hall,” she says. “We were able to raise $270 for the animal shelter. Owen...is very happy with it.”
Though there was no official costume contest, Stacy says her favorite of the day was Joyce Hollenbeck’s Wicked Witch of the West outfit. Joyce, who works in the mayor’s office, came in with the full green makeup and stockings, complementing Bob Petrucelli’s Cowardly Lion.
“The overall morale in Town Hall was fantastic,” she says. “It was great to see everybody...For adults who are always serious, it was a nice couple hours of frivolity.”
Stacy says that the Carolinian dogs have all been adopted and that, with the success of the Halloween fundraiser, Town Hall is already planning another benefit for the animal shelter in December. This time, employees will be challenged to dig out their ugliest sweater.
“We’re going to have a little contest,” Stacy says. “We’re going to have the mayor and Owen Little judge and they’re going to get a prize and a ribbon for the ugliest sweater.”
Animals have always been an important part of Stacy’s life. In fact, she adopted her own dog from the East Haven shelter, a small terrier mix called Baxter.
When dog licensing season begins in June, the town clerk’s office runs a drive for the animal shelter, inviting the public to donate pet supplies to the shelter by dropping them off at Town Hall for delivery.
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