The Town Clerk of the Year is the Connecticut Town Clerk’s Association’s highest award.

Submitted

At the Connecticut Town Clerks Association’s conference on Sept. 28, Essie Labrot was awarded “Town Clerk of the Year,” the highest award that the association bestows each year.

The winner is selected by all 169 town clerks as the person they feel has done the most for the association and the residents of her community. Essie was one of five finalists. Of note, Essie’s testimonies, research, presentations and volunteerism set her apart from the other candidates.

For many years, Labrot has volunteered much of her time and talent to the Connecticut Town Clerks Association (CTCA). As a member and past chair of the Legislative and Elections Committee, Labrot provided testimony, attended meetings, and provided detailed research on topics such as No Excuse Absentee Ballots, early voting, and fees.

In 2012, she collaborated with numerous state agencies to form a coalition to fight legislation mandating the redaction of residential addresses on land records. The group’s efforts were instrumental in successfully defeating this legislation and resulted in CTCA being recognized by the FOI Commission’s annual meeting.

Labrot has been a resident of West Hartford for more than 30 years. She began her role as town clerk on Jan. 7, 2008, and obtained her Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC) in 2015 and Master Connecticut Town Clerk (MCTC) in 2016.

As Labrot is fond of saying, when she started in the clerk’s office they were still using carbon paper. The first item that she tackled was bringing the office up to speed with technology. Land records were made accessible to residents and title searchers on line. Carbon paper was replaced by receipts from the computer system. For elections, Labrot decided that scanning in ballots would cut down on time and provide better accuracy and incorporated a scanning process with the Absentee Ballot program.

In addition to being the town clerk, Labrot is also the clerk of the Council for West Hartford. She is always available to help the councilors and any resident that might call on a Saturday looking for a marriage license.

In 2010, Labrot was recognized by the Town Clerks Association with the “Above and Beyond” Award.

In June 2012, Labrot received the “Bice Clemow Award” from the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information for her outstanding leadership in helping to pass legislation promoting open and accountable government.

She has volunteered for fundraising events including Mothers Against Drunk Driving, CT Aids Resource Coalition, Muscular Dystrophy, The Mayor’s Charity Ball, March of Dimes, World Vision, and the West Hartford’s Town That Cares. Labrot is a former president of the Parent Teacher Council.

Labrot is the mother of three children. Her eldest recently married. Her children are Emma and Ben McIntosh, Kelsey Labrot and Andrew Labrot.

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