LONDONDERRY-The town is seeking a town clerk and state representative with the resignation of dual officeholder Kelly Pajala, who has taken a job with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"I am starting a new job with FEMA's Community Assistance Team in Vermont," Pajala wrote on her public Facebook page upon her July 31 career change, an announcement she confirmed in an interview.
"I am excited about this next chapter and am ready to jump into the work that is ahead."
The Selectboard is seeking a town clerk to fill out the rest of Pajala's term, which runs until March. In the interim, municipal Treasurer Tina Labeau will serve in the post, although she told VTDigger she doesn't want it permanently.
Pajala also said July 30 would be her last day filling the Windham-Windsor-Bennington district House seat for the towns of Andover, Londonderry, Weston, and Winhall, to which she was appointed in 2017 and elected in 2018, 2020, and 2022.
"While this feels like a big decision and was not made lightly, it is also clearly the right thing to do at the right time for me and my family," she wrote in a letter to constituents.
"The next few years are the last my kids will be just that, kids," she said. "I want to be able to give them the best of myself as they make choices about growing into their own lives."
Pajala has run in the past as an independent and had until Aug. 8 to file a petition to seek reelection.
Janet "Jan" Payne of Andover ran unopposed on the Republican primary ballot on Aug. 13, and Chris Morrow of Weston has announced his intent to run as an independent in the November general election.
Gov. Phil Scott's office said it had just learned of Pajala's resignation and couldn't yet comment on appointing an interim replacement.
This News item by Kevin O'Connor originally appeared in VTDigger and was republished in The Commons with permission.