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SCHENECTADY
Council selects Versaci as city clerk
Longtime deputy takes over office
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    After 11 years in the background, Eileen Versaci was thrust into the limelight Monday as the new city clerk.
    The City Council appointed her unanimously to replace Carolyn Friello, who retired a week ago. Versaci quietly took over for her then, despite expressing complete disbelief over the entire affair.
    “I didn’t think that Carolyn would ever retire. I’m serious,” she said. “As we got older together, I never really thought about it.”
    Friello is 65. Versaci is 67.
    “I’m actually older than her. Can you believe this?” she said, gesturing at the office that’s now hers.
    As deputy clerk, Versaci helped lead the clerk’s office into the computer age last year and also began opening the office an hour early, at 8 a.m., for those residents who had to work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. At the time, the schedule made sense, because Friello came in at 9 and closed the office at 5.
Now Versaci finds herself working from 8 a.m. until well past closing time. She left on Monday at 9 p.m. after having taken only a brief break to eat a slice of pizza at dinner-time.
She joked that in her new position, sleep would be optional.
“I’m going to give it up,” she said with a laugh.
Although the council supported.........>>>>..........>>>>..........http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....3&Continuation=1