Monroe appoints deputy clerk to handle marriage licenses in Kiryas Joel

MONROE - Apparently some members of the Monroe Town Board were left out of the loop regarding the appointment of a new deputy clerk and satellite office. Gedalye Szegedin was sworn in as a deputy clerk to issue marriage licenses for Kiryas Joel’s residents, the task previously done by Monroe’s Town Clerk, Mary Ellen Beams. The Monroe Town Clerk has the capability of deputizing three deputy clerks. Beams explained to the town board Monday night what prompted her to deputize Szegedin after councilman James Rogers raised the issue of the new clerk. Beams said she reached out to the three villages located within the town of Monroe (Harriman, Kiryas Joel and Monroe) . “I asked them what ideas they might have in light of these hardship times.” The only village that had a response was from the Kiryas Joel government. After much discussion, Beams said, the only suggestion she could make was for a satellite office to accommodate residents who want to get marriage licenses. “There is no room in the town hall since it has been renovated,” said Beams. “It is too narrow,” she said, describing the public space. Over the last five years, she said, there have been about 75 percent of the marriage licenses a year involving residents from Kiryas Joel at the town hall. Town clerks, but not village clerks, can issue marriage licenses under state law. In this case, the licenses will be signed by both the town and the deputy clerk.. The solution was to move the function of marriage licenses from the Stage Road town hall to Kiryas Joel’s village hall. Beams said Monday the new satellite office is open and is more convenient for the residents of the village to get their marriage licenses. “It will also give me more time to serve the rest of the community,” she said The extension of the town clerk’s office is at no cost to the town taxpayer. “We do not pay Kiryas Joel’s village clerk a salary or his benefits. The town keeps all the fees from the marriage licenses,” Beams explained. The marriage license policy was instituted several weeks ago. How is it going so far? “Everybody’s happy,” said Yehuda Berger, Kiryas Joel’s director of Community Services Department. “Nobody’s complaining. They keep on coming.” Rogers did not take exception to Beams move. “You have the right,” he told her. But he queried, “Whether the Town Court will be the next one to have a satellite office?” - Claudia Wysocki