by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Following months of speculation on the part of courthouse employees and regular customers, Clerk of the Court Jim Fuller has named a new chief assistant.
Gordon Morgan, a former assistant clerk in the Juvenile Division with 13 years experience with the clerk’s office, started Monday.
“He’s just a really good guy who’s fair and who get’s along really well with the other employees here,” said Fuller. “It’s not an easy job. It’s hard work and I’m glad he agreed to do it. I know he can handle it.”
Morgan, who said he was “flattered” to be offered the job, replaces Delores Battinelli, who retired at the end of June after nearly 36 years.
“I spoke with Mr. Fuller on Friday and he told me that there was something he had been wanting to ask me,” said Morgan. “Then he offered me the job and told me to think about it over the weekend, which I did. I came in [Monday] and accepted.”
According to Fuller, Morgan has the right frame of mind for the job.
“When you choose someone who is going to work closely alongside you, you want to make sure they see things the way you see them,” said Fuller. “I have a real progressive outlook when it comes to the clerk’s office. I like the idea of doing things more electronically and making it more user friendly here. Gordon is the same way.”
Fuller added it was Morgan’s forward-thinking nature that helped push him to the top of his list of potential applicants.
“It was a difficult decision because any of the assistant clerks could have stepped in and done a beautiful job,” said Fuller. “They are each talented and highly qualified and I respect them all. I was also considering a few outside prospects, but I felt that [Morgan] could best handle the added responsibility that comes with being the chief assistant clerk.”
Added responsibility is proving to be a running theme at the courthouse. Fuller said the revisions to Article 5 of the State constitution — a streamlining of all county court operations throughout the state — may call for added duties for several departmental supervisors, including Michael Connelly and Gwen Loadholtz.
“We really won’t know what’s ahead until we meet with the people over in the mayor’s office,” said Fuller. “Luckily, we have a year to get everything figured out, but we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
In the meantime, Morgan is confident he could rely on longtime staffers to ease the transition into his new job.
“We have a very capable management staff working here,” he said, “and this will hopefully be a natural continuation of my relationship with them. We’ve been working together towards a common goal for a long time and none of us will lose sight of that.”