BEDFORD, N.Y. — Nina Kellogg, the deputy town clerk for more than a quarter century, will step down this month after 28 years of government service.
The Katonah native’s retirement from her appointed post comes a year and a half after Lisbeth “Boo” Fumagalli ended her 22-year run as the office’s elected town clerk. At the time, Kellogg declined an interim appointment as Fumagalli’s successor, saying she preferred to remain “a good No. 2.”
Alexandra Whalen, who did accept the appointment and was later elected to the job, called Kellogg “the very foundation” of the clerk’s office.
“Replacing Nina is not a small task,” Whalen told the Town Board’s Oct. 7 meeting. “She is not someone whose absence will go unnoticed. Her contributions, her institutional knowledge, friendship and presence are irreplaceable.”
Supervisor Ellen Calves said the vacancy has been posted and interviews to fill it are already underway.
In a memo notifying the board of Kellogg’s retirement decision, Calves said, “Her time and unwavering dedication have been greatly valued and appreciated by both employees and residents.”
The father of Councilman Andres Castillo was one of those residents who valued Kellogg’s work. Addressing the meeting, Castillo said his father, who brought his family from Peru to Bedford Hills 20 years ago, especially appreciated how Kellogg had worked past language difficulties to assist him on several occasions.
For Kellogg, who began working in town hall in 1997, her initial assignments—as clerk and recording secretary for the Zoning Board and Wetlands Commission—were simply a brief warmup before following in her mother’s footsteps.
On Jan. 1, 1998, when Kellogg assumed the deputy clerk’s mantle, she was reprising the role her mother, Nina Lent, had filled from 1969 to 1985. By January 2002, when Fumagalli took office, Kellogg’s four years’ experience equipped her to act as mentor.
“She taught me everything I know,” Fumagalli said of her deputy.
In addition to her day job, Kellogg is secretary/treasurer of the Katonah Fire Department, a post she’s held since 2007, and sits on the Katonah Historic District Advisory Commission, which is charged with maintaining the hamlet’s historic character.
The town clerk's office is Bedford’s repository of vital records, maintaining the story of the town on paper and, increasingly, in the bits and bytes of computer drives. Among many duties, it also issues licenses and permits, oversees elections and records the minutes of Town Board meetings.
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