Barb Seeger has been the clerk of Franklin Township since 1983. January 31, will be her last day as clerk. She’s retiring after 18 years of service.
Before taking the clerk’s seat, Seeger was a stay-at-home mother of 4. But even though she had been a stay-at-home mom, she always found inspiration for community involvement. She was in the PTA, a Girl Scouts leader and active participant at St. Johns United Church of Christ during those years. She had been employed at Nationwide Insurance for twelve years before her marriage to Ed Seeger.
She currently plays the role of secretary/treasurer for the Franklin County Association of Trustees and Clerks.
So she’s had a lot of energy.
But she’s getting old, she said. Her energy is dwindling, and she wants to turn her attention to some personal interests. Six of those interests are grandchildren. Another is traveling.
Seeger said, “It’s just something I want to do. That’s why I’m retiring—I don’t have the energy to do it all anymore.”
When asked where all her energy came from to be so involved in the community her whole life, Seeger said, “I don’t know where it came from. Maybe God gave me the energy. That’s where I think it came from. Maybe determination…who knows.”
Seeger said she first started attending Franklin Township board meetings at the request of a trustee from the period.
Seeger said, “The more I attended, the more I thought something wasn’t right.” She felt that the clerk of that time should not have been employed elsewhere full-time.
Moreover, said Seeger, “I saw problems with the way trustees were treating employees.”
Seeger originally planned to run for trustee, but decided to go for clerk.
She’s been around to see the township annual budget grow from $2 million to $5 million, and to see the police department grow from a 8-man department to 14 men. But over her tenure, she has also watched the dwindling of the township. She estimates the township has lost 25 percent of its property to Columbus since she’s been clerk.
When asked about the biggest issue facing the township, Seeger said, “Annexation.”
Are there any solutions? “Not as long as people want water,” said Seeger. With the moratorium on Senate Bill 5, Seeger said she doesn’t want to think about the future of Franklin Township.
Seeger said, “I hate to think about it. I hope I see a bright future, but unless this annexation stops….” She didn’t finish the sentence.
Franklin Township has less to worry about regarding annexation than other townships, she said, because there are few wide-open spaces suited for development. She said the biggest threat would be to lose Delphi and Westland Mall. Seeger said, “I don’t know if we could survive without them.” She stated that the township couldn’t pay for all its employees without revenues from those two entities.
Seeger is going to miss her job. Mostly it will be the people she’s come to know and grow fond of. Employees, trustees, representatives from other local governments. “I plan to visit,” she said. But not right off, since she wants to give the new clerk a chance to settle in.
Crystal Cook will replace Seeger. Cook has already been employed at the township office to learn as much as she can from Seeger before January 31.
Seeger said of Cook, “She’s doing great. She’ll be a good asset to us.”
Cook has had previous township experience, as she worked as a secretary for Jackson Township.
Seeger will stay on with the County Association of Trustees and Clerks. Fellow association member and Prairie Township trustee John Hart said, “We hate to see her go, but I understand where she’s coming from. She’s a wonderful lady, and I’m glad she’s staying on with the Association.”
Hart said that for years Seeger often exchanged ideas with Prairie Township’s former clerk Marguerite Chestnut. Hart said, “It’s always been that if you ask Barb something, she knows the answer almost right away. That’s because she’s been around so long and knows everybody.”
At the December 6 Association meeting Franklin Township trustee Cheryl Schrack said that she was in no hurry at all to see Seeger go.
So Franklin Township says goodbye to an energetic and devoted clerk.
You can tell that she’s a little nervous when you talk to her, but you can also tell she’s happy to shed some responsibility. The township wishes her well on her journeys and time with her grandchildren.
Barb Seeger