New town clerk greets challenges

There’s a new face around Town Hall in Chapel Hill.

Sabrina Oliver has only been town clerk for three weeks, but she said she already has experienced the numerous demands of the job.

When one resident found out she was the new clerk, she said he told her, “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

“It’s been overwhelming,” Oliver said. “It’s been a tremendous learning experience.”

As town clerk, Oliver’s responsibilities include putting together packets for Town Council meetings, distributing materials for the council and serving as a records keeper. “It’s a tremendous amount of responsibility,” she said.

Despite her workload, Oliver said she is looking forward to the almost weekly council meetings and public forums. “I’m ready,” she said. “I’m anxious to get a feel for it.”

Oliver replaced Joyce Smith, who served in the town clerk’s office for more than 20 years and as town clerk since 1998.

“Those are big shoes to fill,” she said. “I don’t know if I can completely fill those. It’ll be no time soon.”

Deputy Town Clerk Sandy Cook said Oliver brings energy, stamina and new ideas to the position.

“I think she’s done extremely well,” Cook said. “She’s seen the volume of work and requests the clerk’s office handles in a short period of time.”

Oliver was Elon’s town clerk and zoning and subdivision coordinator for more than 10 years.

Oliver said the biggest difference between Elon and Chapel Hill is size. “(Chapel Hill is) a larger community,” she said. “It’s a community noted for its citizens being extremely interested in what’s going on.

“University towns are different communities than typical municipalities,” she said. “It’s something of a different world. It’s just something about the buzz of a university town. Maybe it’s all that youth out there.”

A graduate of Elon University, Oliver worked with local government long before she became a town clerk. She worked as a newspaper editor for 10 years, covering the local government beat, but she decided to change careers in the early ’90s.

“I realized I had been trained by a crusty old editor who thought the government was up to no good,” she said.

Oliver’s interest in public service led her to a job in the planning department of Alamance County, and she became the town clerk of Elon about a year later.

She said the hardest part of her new job is going from knowing everyone to knowing no one.

“There’s nowhere better to train than a small town,” Oliver said. “I got to wear many hats. But I got tired of wearing all those hats.”

She accepted the job in Chapel Hill because she wanted to take on a solely management position.

“I had reached a place in my career where there wasn’t anywhere for me to advance,” Oliver said. “It gets to the point where I’m doing a whole lot of things not very well. You spend a lot of time putting fires out.”

She said she is looking forward to serving the town of Chapel Hill. “I consider it an honor, and I’m going to try my darnedest to do my best.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.