Town Clerk Election Preview

In the race for Town Clerk, it is a choice between a man dedicated to the history of Waterford, and a woman who comes from one of Waterford’s oldest families.

Democrat Robert Nye, 67, has been Waterford’s Town Clerk for 20 years and is also the Town Historian. Before becoming Town Clerk in January of 1992, he was a preservation and home improvement contractor and a teacher, with stops in Virginia, Waterford and Athens, Greece.

“I’m running for re-election because I enjoy my job,” Nye wrote in his questionnaire. “I enjoy people and I enjoy working with them – and under what more ideal circumstances than in the Town Clerk’s office, the most public of all town departments.”

Republican challenger Kate MacKenzie, 50, grew up next to the now . Her father, Hugh MacKenzie, was the former first selectman of Waterford. 

MacKenzie works for the state of Connecticut in the Department of Social Services. She said she is running because, “having moved back to my hometown of Waterford I would like to contribute to the community of Waterford, which has been home to the MacKenzie family for over 100 years.”

Candidate Questionnaires

Robert Nye

Age: 67

Employment:

Waterford Town Clerk 1992- present (Certified Connecticut Town Clerk, 1994)

Sole proprietor, preservation & home improvement contractor, 1981-91

History & Social Studies teacher, Virginia, Waterford, & Athens Greece, 1966-81

Incumbent: Yes

Previous Elected Experience: None

Civic Experience:

Planning and Zoning Commission, 1984

Justice of the Peace, 1992 – present

Waterford Municipal Historian, 1993-present

Drafted ordinances and/or amendments relative to historic properties, demolition delay, and property maintenance, and the establishment of the Historic Properties Commission.

Achieved Certified Local Government designation for the town, a preservation partnership among federal, state & local governments.

Chaired the Waterford Bicentennial Committee’s publication of Robert L. Bachman’s An Illustrated History of Waterford.

Recording secretary for the Historical Properties Commission.

Project coordinator & research assistant for town-wide archaeological assessment, historic & architectural surveys, & National Register nominations.

Lecturer in local history

Secured thousands of dollars in grant funding for surveys, National Register Nominations, repairs to the Jordan Park House & Nevins Cottage carriage barn, and condition assessments of the Congregation Ahavath Chesed Cemetery Tahara House, the Hammond caretaker’s cottage, the Secchiaroli Barn, and the Nevins Cottage, among other projects.

Memberships: Connecticut Town Clerks Assocation, Waterford Historical Society, West Farms Land Trust, Friends of Harkness, New London County Historical Society, Connecticut Historical Society, Connecticut Trust for Historica Preservation, Connecticut League of History Organizations.

Reason for Running: I’m running for reelection because I enjoy my job. I enjoy people and I enjoy working with them – and under what more ideal circumstances than in the Town Clerk’s office, the most public of all town departments. Looking back, I like to think my past experience as a teacher, preservationist, and historian prepared me for this role. As “keeper of the records”, the Town Clerk is in fact the steward of the town’s history. I take great pride in this. Yet it never gets old. There are always new faces, new questions, new responsibilities, and new opportunites. I like my job.

Kate MacKenzie

Age: 50

Address: 63 Rock Ridge Road

Employment: State of CT, Dept. of Social Services, Eligibility Services

Education: BA, Eastern CT State University

Previous Elected Experience: Appointed Former Registrar of Voters, Brooklyn

Civic Experience (appointments, non-profits): Justice of the Peace, Waterford

Reason for Running: I am running for Town Clerk because I have decades of experience at the State and Federal level verifying eligibility for services, providing front-line services and assisting people with providing documentation for services. I have been recognized for cost-saving initiatives and streamlining office efficiency. I would like to utilize my proven skills on the municipal level for the residents of Waterford. Having moved back to my hometown of Waterford I would like to contribute to the community of Waterford which has been home to the MacKenzie family for over 100 years.