“Vital” Change Targets Newlywed Gridlock

Getting hitched in New Haven is about to become just a little bit easier — as a plan advanced to reclassify two Vital Statistics Division positions to allow those employees to sign off on marriage licenses and certificates.

City Director of Vital Statistics Patricia Clark pitched that operational-efficiency change Monday night during the latest regular meeting of the Board of Alders Finance Committee, which voted to advance the proposal to the full Board of Alders. The virtual committee meeting took place online via Zoom and YouTube Live.

Clark said that her office currently has only four budgeted positions: the registrar of vital statistics and three processing clerks. Per state statute, only one of those positions — the registrar — is legally allowed to sign off on marriage licenses and certificates.

“That means that if I step out of the office for a meeting,” or if she is sick or on vacation, Clark said, ​“no marriage licenses can be issued to anyone in the City of New Haven.”

Her office has been feeling a newlywed-crunch all the more acutely over the past few weeks because two of the processing clerk positions are now vacant: one thanks to a resignation, one a retirement.

“We are the highest foottraffic office in all of City Hall,” Clark said. ​“With a full staff, we only have four.” For the past few weeks, her office has been down to two workers.

Meanwhile, New Haveners looking to memorialize and obtain the necessary documentation for key milestones in life keeping coming through.

Clark has worked for the city for over a decade, and stepped into the vital statistics registrar role in May.

She said that her office issued 55 new marriage licenses in September, and another 55 new marriage licenses in October. In September, her office issued 754 new birth certificates. That number went up to 789 in October.

Her office also handles death certificates, legal name changes, and Elm City Resident Cards. In a letter written to the alders in advance of Monday’s meeting, Clark said that her office processes over 300 documents daily.

All of that brought Clark to the Finance Committee Monday night with a pitch to reclassify her office’s two vacant positions in a bid to speed up the marriage-license workflow.

The city has proposed reclassifying one processing clerk position and one processing clerk bilingual position as two new assistant registrar positions. Per state statute, an assistant registrar — like the main registrar — is able to sign off on marriage licenses and certificates.

Changing the titles to assistant registrar will mean that ​“more people in the office would be able to sign off on those certifications, which would speed up the process quite a bit in our office,” she said. She said that the proposed title change has already been approved by Local 884, the clerical workers union that represents those positions, which will remain in the union even after the name change.

Clark and City Budget Director Michael Gormany said that, besides the name change and the addition of the responsibility of signing off on marriage licenses and certificates, nothing about these jobs will be changing. That includes the salaries, which will stay the same as that for the current processing clerk jobs.

“This job will be performing the duties of the processing clerk and have the signatory authority of an assistant registrar,” Gormany said.

Why haven’t these positions been filled already? Hill Alder Evelyn Rodriguez asked. And will eliminating the bilingual processing clerk role mean that the newly hired assistant registrar will not have to be bilingual?

Clark said that the city has not been able to post the vacant positions because it has been trying to get the title changes approved. If and when the full Board of Alders signs off on those changes, the positions will be posted and candidates can apply.

“We are planning on posting the positions for both as bilingual preferred,” Clark said. ​“Ideally, both positions would turn into bilingual, if we could be so lucky.” Currently, if she or her one remaining colleague need help with Spanish-language translation, ​“I have at the ready a phone call to other people at City Hill who help with people if there is a language barrier,” Clark said.

She also said that all of the office’s forms on the website include one side in English and one side in Spanish.

The Finance Committee alders ultimately voted in support of the proposed reclassifications.

“Seems pretty straightforward,” East Rock Alder Anna Festa said. ​“This is just a title change. The responsibilities remain the same, plus some, that will benefit the office and hopefully improve its productivity.”

The proposed reclassifications now advance to the full Board of Alders for further deliberations and a final vote.