Fast Chat: Catching up with longtime town employee Linda Cooper
One of Town Hall’s most familiar faces is hanging up her hat after 30 years working in the Town Clerk’s Office.
On Tuesday, the Town Board accepted the resignation of senior administrative assistant Linda Cooper.
“I wish Linda all the best in her retirement, but Southold Town is losing one of its best, most stellar employees,” Supervisor Scott Russell said after reading the resolution.
The soon-to-be-retired Southold resident first began working for the town in 1984 at the age of 32. A transplant from Cleveland, Ohio, Ms. Copper said it was a “culture shock” when she moved to Orient with her husband, but later grew to love the town.
“When you grow up in a city like Cleveland you have public transportation and stores and when we moved to Orient it was like there was nothing,” she said. “I didn’t have a driver’s license either so it was like ‘how do I leave?’ ”
On Friday we caught up with a cheery Ms. Cooper to find out more about her time as town employee and her feelings on punching out for the last time on June 11.
Q. What is a typical day like in the Town Clerk’s office?
A. “Typical days are never typical. There is always something. We come in and immediately the phone calls start. It is a fast day at our office because it is just busy all the time. Even if you don’t see someone at the counter there is a lot going on. Our most enjoyable time is working with the public. I think one of the things I like best was having a problem be presented and working with people to come up with a solution. Sometimes it is difficult. Sometimes it makes us laugh.”
Q. Are there tips residents should know to make working with the Clerk’s Office easier? A. “One of the things that makes us laugh the most, but also frustrates us the most is when people tell us they don’t need to show their vehicle registration to get a beach permit. Or when they say ‘I went through this process last year.’ I’m sorry, but you have to do it again this year. We want to help, but we have to keep it legal.”
Q. Do you have a favorite memory about the job?
A. “It was getting to meet people. A woman walked up to me once and said ‘You’re Linda Cooper, right? Do you remember me? I was one of your beach attendants.’ And it was a girl I did remember and then she brought over her two children. That made me feel really old.”
Q. What are your plans for retirement?
A. “Well I retire on a Wednesday so the first thing I’ll do Thursday is wake up without an alarm clock. After that there are no major, major plans. We will eventually move out of the area because we have no family here. Our daughter and her family live in southern Maryland so we’re looking at the Virginia area.
