When Municipal Clerk Dawn Mount was growing up, working for town government was the last thing she had in mind for a career.
Mount wanted to work on Wall Street in New York City. With an eye toward a career in business, she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Monmouth University.
She was well on her way to her dream career, working for the investment bank and stock brokerage firm Paine Webber – until there was an economic downturn and she was laid off.
“I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do,” said Mount, who found business “fascinating.” “I was young and I got my foot in the door, but it was the wrong time,”
But as one door shuts, another one opens – and for Mount, it was the pivot from business to government, thanks to some friendly advice from a broker at Paine Webber.
The broker was friendly with Princeton Borough Municipal Clerk Carolyn Kafka, Mount said. He also knew she was looking to fill a vacancy in the Borough Clerk’s Office.
“He told me to call Carolyn to explore the job opening,” said Mount. “I did, and I was hired. I worked with her and Nancy Hendrickson and Delores Williams, who was a mentor to me.” Mount was hired in 2002.
Williams, who is now retired, rose through the ranks to become the Princeton Municipal Clerk in the Municipality of Princeton. The former Princeton Borough and Princeton Township consolidated to become one town in 2013.
Mount, who was appointed to become the Municipal Clerk in April, is quick to admit that she never knew that working for municipal government was a career option. Her focus in college was business. Her goal was to move to New York City and find a job on Wall Street.
“Watching TV and the movies, I found business was intriguing,” she explained. “What makes a business successful? It was fascinating. I wanted to be where the action is.”
Mount soon discovered that there is also plenty of action in the Municipal Clerk’s Office.
“I didn’t realize what the Clerk’s Office does,” she said. “Once I got here, I found the whole thing fascinating in its own way. There is a lot of responsibility and accountability.”
So what exactly are those responsibilities?
For starters, the Municipal Clerk is the secretary to the Princeton Council. The Municipal Clerk prepares the Princeton Council’s meeting agenda, attends the meetings and keeps the minutes of the meetings and all actions taken during the meeting.
The Municipal Clerk is also the chief administrator of elections in town – opening and closing the polling places on Election Day, and acting as intermediary between the poll workers and the Mercer County Board of Elections.
The Municipal Clerk’s Office fulfills Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests, in which people request access to public records. The office responds to as many as 2,000 requests per year, Mount said.
The Municipal Clerk’s Office also issues dog licenses, parking permits, liquor licenses and also coordinates weddings for the mayor to perform. The office also handles passports.
“We are the hub, one of the first points of contact when people are looking for information,” Mount said. “Our job is to help people.”
Every day is different,” Mount said, noting that is what she likes about the job. It may seem routine, but things crop up that were not expected.
“On Wall Street, you trade bonds,” she said. “Here, you never know what will happen.”
Looking back over the 23 years she has worked in the Municipal Clerk’s Office, Mount said that merging Princeton Borough and Princeton Township into the Municipality was a big change.
“You go from a small town (Princeton Borough) to working on a larger scale,” she said. Princeton Borough was 1.7 square miles and Princeton Township was 16 square miles.
Technology has changed, too, she said. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns meant switching from in-person meetings to virtual meetings online.
“We learned how to do a virtual (Princeton Council) meeting,” Mount said. “We had to do it on the fly. It’s nice to be back in person. I am still a paper-and-pen gal, but there are benefits to technology.”
Overall, it has been a pleasant surprise to work in the Municipal Clerk’s Office – and an eye-opener as well. Two decades ago, she did not know about the Clerk’s Office or even that local government existed.
“The job found me,” Mount said. “It happens for a reason. I am happy, and I am where I am supposed to be.”
