#MiddletownRI Town Clerk Wendy J.W. Marshall is a Master Municipal Clerk. Her hard work, committment and dedication were commended Tuesday by the Town Council and others. Thanks to Marshall for all you do for Middletown!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com
TOWN CLERK MARSHALL ACHIEVES RARE STATUS
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (JANUARY 17, 2024) – Wendy J.W. Marshall is a Master Municipal Clerk.
On Jan. 8, Marshall was certified with the prestigious designation from the International Institute Of Municipal Clerks after hundreds of hours of work. It is the first time a town clerk for the Town of Middletown has ever earned the recognition.
Marshall was honored with loud standing applause for her hard work and dedication to Middletown during a Town Council Tuesday night in Town Hall. Members of her family sat in the first and second rows of the council chambers, smiling warmly.
In addition to a citation in her honor from the town, Marshall received separate commendations from the General Assembly through State Senator Louis P. DiPalma and State Representative Terri-Denise Cortvriend.
“Thank you for recognizing me,” Marshall said, holding a large bouquet of colorful flowers. “I really appreciate it and I really do love my job.”
Speaking for everyone who works with Marshall, council President Paul M. Rodrigues and Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown said she is essentially the hub of the wheel that helped keep everything going smoothly everyday in Middletown.
Whether it’s elections, Municipal and Probate courts, permitting, licensing or the largely unseen day-to-day business of the town, they said Marshall — and her team — always got it right.
Showing his trademark humor, Rodrigues said while some people might think it’s the council or administration that run Middletown, Marshall is the one who really makes things click.
“She keeps us all straight. Any motion, anything on the (Town Council) docket,” Rodrigues said. "Wendy’s just one of a kind. I’m not just saying that because we’re standing here next to her and recognizing her. She is phenomenal, what she brings to the table whether it’s an election, whether it’s a council docket, whether it’s coordinating things for the council and the administration, I don’t know what we’d do without you and we’re very grateful to have you.”
Brown agreed, saying Marshall always worked extremely hard for everyone, whether for her colleagues, the residents of Middletown, businesspeople and beyond.
“For everybody that’s here at Town Hall, Wendy ends up being the gatekeeper of what’s right and wrong,” Brown said. “Making sure that we have agendas that are correct, that records are maintained. That’s not only for town operations, but everything from everybody who was born and passed away in the Town of Middletown, licenses that keep businesses going and just a countless number of things in between.”
The next morning after a late council meeting, Marshall was back at it early, preparing notices to mail to abutters for an upcoming project. She read the names out loud to Deputy Town Clerk Karin Clancey of those slated to receive the official town paperwork to make sure everyone was included properly.
Marshall started working for the Town of Middletown on Jan. 1, 1988. She was named as Acting Deputy Town Clerk in May 1995 and Deputy Town Clerk in August 1996.
She was selected as Town Clerk on Oct. 1, 2007, taking over for longtime Town Clerk Barbara Nash.
After hundreds of hours of work recently, Marshall joins an elite fraternity of clerks in the State of Rhode Island to be named a “Master Municipal Clerk,” an honor only a small few currently serving in The Ocean State have achieved.
Almost daily, Marshall said she enjoys her job and finds it especially rewarding to work and serve the people, businesses and community of Middletown.
She has also been active with the Rhode Island Town and City Clerks Association, including serving as the group’s president in 2020-2022.
Since her certification, kudos and praise have come in from across the country for Marshall for her certification, honors that are well deserved.
Document Link: https://www.middletownri.com/DocumentCenter/View/10426/NYCU-Marshall
####