ORANGE — Andrew Smith has resigned from the town’s Selectboard and is expected to begin working as assistant town clerk this week.
The 65-year-old, elected to the Selectboard in 2021 and reelected three years later, decided to step down from his position for a job he feels might be better suited to his skill set.
“I kind of needed a little bit of a change. I love being up at Town Hall. I felt somewhat unfufilled, I guess, being a Selectman. I had a great time, met lots of people. Yes, I was busy,” he said on Tuesday. “It’s a position that speaks to my strengths. I have good attention to detail, very organized and I enjoy customer service.”
Smith said he will work nine to 19 hours per week as assistant town clerk, at a rate of $23 per hour. He will handle marriage licenses, death certificates, dog licenses and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and has offered to relieve Town Clerk Rachael Fortier of her responsibility of maintaining the municipal website. He said he will likely undergo the certification process to become a notary public.
There will be a special election later this year to fill the seat he has vacated. The position will not be on the ballot for the annual town election scheduled for March 2.
Smith’s final day as a Selectboard member was Jan. 30.
“I think I surprised people,” he said about his decision. “They weren’t expecting that.”
He said Fortier will train him in his new position. Fortier was assistant town clerk from 2021 until June 30, 2025, when she took over for retiring Town Clerk Nancy Blackmer. Diane Page became assistant town clerk, but has since resigned.
Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from SUNY Plattsburgh and a master’s degree in atmospheric chemistry from SUNY Albany. For 18½ years, he worked for government-owned Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, where he was in charge of the security department’s public utterance, meaning the release of materials to the general public.
Smith and his wife, Barbara, moved to Orange in April 2020, shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he long ago fell in love with the North Quabbin area from his visits to a Lake Mattawa camp his wife’s family has owned since the 1950s.