Northeastern US Clerks and Treasurers Stand in Opposition to Vermont Lawsuit

The Vermont Town Clerks that I know are working more hours than ever to make sure all records requests are filled while keeping employees and citizens safe. I wonder if this national company can fathom what would happen if someone in a small Vermont town office were to get sick and need to isolate. In my town there are two employees to do the Clerk and Treasurer functions. If one of us gets COVID, we would both have to quarantine. No one would be left to do payroll, pay bills, accept recording, and certainly no one would be filling records requests. For them to demand that we go against the Governor's and ACCD's guidelines is unthinkable.

Every Vermont town/city's resources and buildings are different. Allowing a "one size fits all" decision to cater to one title company, will jeopardize the wellbeing and financial security of some communities.

I fully support my fellow clerks and treasurers. This is ridiculous and without merit. I have received not one complaint on how we have been conducting business. All my researchers have been understanding during the pandemic.

All the Town Clerks I know go above and beyond to help people no matter the situation. It is unsafe to have in-person searches at this time. All business at a Town Clerks can be done through mail, email, phone or land record portals and during Covid should be.

We have done all we can to keep everyone safe. A little patience and understanding goes a long way.

Like many other small towns, we have had to make changes to comply with the Governor's orders. Our office had someone working to assist anyone that needed town records. We have gone above and beyond to can and email information and documents to anyone who needed it, and all this at no charge. This is very sad to think under these stressful times that this is how some companies choose to deal with the current situation, many of whom are still working from home themselves. This would put an enormous financial burden on smaller towns, and hopefully that courts will see this as unfounded.

Our small town has worked hard to accommodate all needing to come in to the Town Clerk's office in a safe manner. We have had no complaints with our COVID regulations.

We have an intercom system and still see the public but limit the number of people in the building. To open fully puts all the workers in the Town Hall at risk. We continue to service the public and have had no complaints from the general public.

If persons who are initiating this lawsuit are particularly concerned with the health of the Town Officials, they may opt to provide protection by way of windows and shield in Town Halls. We have a window in Groton, NH and still came down with COVID. We are frontline and should benefit from some of the monies floating around for essential workers.

My office isn't big enough to allow people to pile in - business as usual. As in many towns, if I get sick a lot more shuts down than just the access to our records. I'm baffled as to why anyone would think opening our doors without appointments, etc would be a good idea. We are one of the safest states for a reason.

We have all gone out of our way to provide the best service possible while keeping ourselves, our coworkers and our families safe. It is a sad statement when our local officials are the target of out-of-state interests. These people don't care whether you get sick and die as long as they get instant gratification and can bill their clients for much more money than any of us will see in a year's salary. Be aware that this foolhardy behaviour will impact the health of each and every community in this state. It is time to stand up to those who would willingly jeopardize all of our health and say ENOUGH! Our state's health remains strong because we are not feckless. What will be next? A lawsuit against the Governor and Health Officials for their mandates for maintaining public health?

Vermont Clerk and Treasurers have always put their towns first and do what is best for everyone.

Our office, like many, does not have the room to go back to business as usual and socially distance for safety. We are all doing the best we can. We have worked hard to be sure we offer as diverse an appointment schedule as possible. Best of luck to the Clerk's named in this lawsuit,I am sorry you are faced with this and you have my full support.

We share an office with the Village Clerk and our Delinquent Tax Collector (a separate elected official) and this would infringe on their comfort also. We are working very hard to be sure that the people are taken care of and we are open to title searchers by appointment. I do not agree with this lawsuit and will gladly sign this petition.

Thanks for doing this, John.

What are they thinking? It is outrageous that they want to put people's lives at risk to suit their commercial needs.

I was shocked when I read about this lawsuit in my local paper and even more disturbed now as I contemplate the potential implications for Clerks and Treasures across New England. In my office we have worked extremely hard to be sure researchers have what they need to do their jobs, all the while trying to wrap our heads around the consequences of even one of us contracting Covid-19. Were that to happen, our office would have to totally shut down, something that would have consequences for all researchers, not just those associated with Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Company. We need to keep everyone safe so that information can continue to flow. This lawsuit shows the selfishness of the company that filed it. I hope it is rejected by the court.

I have been working hard to keep the staff protected against Covid. I did not take it lightly when I closed my office for research. My staff goes out of their way to help people obtain the necessary information. I have received no complaints.

The vast majority of clerks throughout Vermont have worked tirelessly for more than 9 months developing ways to assist residents and customers while keeping themselves, their staffs and the public safe. Kudos to the clerks, and shame on those who aren't taking public safety into consideration in these challenging times.

Every municipality is differently equipped to handle the pandemic. Who better to judge what's best in providing the delicate balance between good customer service and the health and safety of it's citizens ? Answer: each individual municipality! (hopefully a panel including the EMD, governing body and department heads). Someone in CT has no clue what our needs are in Northern NH.