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07/18/2023 12:01 PMWhether it’s helping people find the documents they need as the assistant town clerk in Clinton or helping in an emergency as an EMT in Killingworth, Lisa Barbour looks forward to helping others.
Lisa was working in a law office when an ad caught her attention.
“I worked in law offices for 37 years, and when I saw the Clinton opening, it was looking for a lot of things I already had done in the law office,” Lisa explains. “I figured my legal background would help me there,” she adds.
Lisa successfully applied for the job and has been the assistant clerk in Clinton since 2019.
The clerk’s office is responsible for several important tasks. Lisa explains as part of her job, she’s responsible for recording documents; handling absentee ballots; handing out dog licenses, marriage licenses, birth licenses, and death licenses; and posting meeting agendas and minutes. In addition, Lisa is a public notary.
“I do most of the recording of documents when they come in. We do help people with anything we can,” she says.
Of course, Lisa says that with 2023 being a local election year, the office is about to kick into high gear. She adds that long before the first person casts a ballot in November, the office begins working to set the stage for the election.
“Election stuff starts up very soon for the election in November. We have party endorsements to keep track of, and we start doing absentee ballots in October,” Lisa says.
Coming from a background in a law office, Lisa says that handling the various tasks surrounding elections is something she’s had a bit of a learning curve with.
“I’m still learning,” she says.
Working with the public is something Lisa says is her favorite aspect of her job, but it can also be hard if she can’t help them.
“Not being able to assist a person who needs help but doesn’t have the required documents due to circumstances outside of our control, that’s hard,” Lisa confesses.
However, the feeling of being able to successfully help someone is always rewarding.
“My favorite part is working with people. Whatever they’re looking for, I like helping and being able to point them in the right direction. Especially too when people come in looking for something like a marriage license; that’s always a happy occasion and is fun,” Lisa says.
Helping people is something Lisa enjoys doing even when she’s not clerking. For the past four years, Lisa has been an EMT with Killingworth Ambulance Association and its board president.
“It’s something I always wanted to do, but being a single mom, I obviously couldn’t leave my kids at night or things like that, but I waited until everyone was grown and gone, and I went for it,” Lisa explains of her interest in being an EMT. “I just decided it was time to do it.”
Lisa says her favorite part of being an EMT is helping people who need care. She notes many of the calls are for elderly people who need assistance and that she also leads blood pressure checks and follows up with patients to see how they’re doing after care.
Lisa grew up in Madison and now lives in Killingworth but for a time, she also called Clinton home.
“My kids are Morgan School graduates,” Lisa says proudly.
“I love that Clinton is a very homey community, but it’s also big enough that they offer a lot of different services in the community and things to do. And there’s a lot of great people here, too,” she says.
In her spare time, Lisa enjoys visiting her two twin grandsons, gardening, and going to the beach.