“When I was Clarkson Deputy Clerk, the office handled marriage licenses,” Leslie Morelli said. “Having issued a marriage license to a young couple one month, the groom returned the next month asking if we could issue a divorce license.” She added, “If only it were that easy!”
That encounter was part of Leslie’s reflections as she looks forward to retiring from her position as Brockport Village Clerk on May 31, having served 21 years. She served the Brockport area for 33 years: SUNY Brockport, Residential Life from 1987 to 1993; Town of Clarkson, Deputy Town Clerk from 1994 to 1999; and Village of Brockport, Village Clerk from June 1999 to May 2020.
In those years, she served under five mayors: Mary Ann Thorpe, Josephine Matela, Morton Wexler, Maria Connie Castañeda, and Margaret Blackman, the current mayor.
Besides the mayors, she worked with 22 trustees, six treasurers, six deputy clerks, and numerous department heads, volunteers, and many others. “I have found the great majority to be very competent and dedicated stewards of and representatives for the Village.”
And, being so detailed in writing meeting minutes, she was dubbed “Ms. Verbatim.”
Leslie points to a few highlights she is proud of: Creating and updating the Employee Handbook, relocation of Village Offices twice – from 18 State Street to 49 State, then to 127 Main Street, and improving and modernizing Village tax collection procedures.
Some of her duties have been as administrative assistant to the mayor, clerk of the Village Board, tax receiver, and record management including F.O.I.L. (Freedom of Information Act), and much more. Providing so much F.O.I.L. detail, the mayor called her “The F.O.I.L. Queen.” Besides that nickname, because of the volume of information she managed, Leslie anticipates her tombstone will read: “F.O.I.L. ed again.”
Leslie’s final thoughts: “I love the Brockport Community, and I am proud to have been a part of it for so long.”
