Plainfield Voters Reject Proposal to Make Town Clerk an Appointed Position

PLAINFIELD -- March 26, 2025, Plainfield voters defeated a proposal to convert the elected town clerk position to an appointed one, while unanimously approving the same change for tree warden at a March 26 special town meeting. Town Clerk Ruth Osgood, who has held the post since 2014 and lives at 64 North Central Street, told the meeting the Select Board never consulted her before introducing the article and called the move "a land grab" on voters' rights. A former town clerk of nine years, identified only as Teresa, listed the position's extensive duties under Secretary of State oversight and argued independence from the Select Board is a structural necessity. Select Board members cited five or six staff turnovers in the past year and said the change was purely about expanding the future applicant pool. The tree warden article passed unanimously and now proceeds to the annual town election ballot for a majority vote. Separately, residents approved a nine-tenths-supermajority transfer of $1,882.66 to cover an unpaid fiscal year 2024 KP Law invoice, and the board agreed to schedule a new special town meeting to fund a geothermal heating system for town hall before rising equipment costs and potential federal policy changes make the project unviable.