By T. Scott Boatright
After 43 years and six administrations, Grambling City Clerk Pamela Stringfellow has decided it is time for “me,” and retirement.
Stringfellow’s last day on the job will be Friday.
“I am thankful and grateful to Almighty God for allowing me to serve the city of Grambling for 43 years,” Stringfellow said. “My heart is filled with many emotions as I bid farewell after a long journey with good and some hard times in this role. I am grateful to my husband Andre for all his support and also to my daughter LaKeshia, my family, my pastor, church family and so many friends.”
Stringfellow, a Grambling native, first worked as the city’s payroll clerk in 1981 and over the years served under the administrations of Mayors Richard Gallot, Richard Ludley, John Williams, Martha Andrus, Edward Jones, and Alvin Bradley.
“This journey has been nothing short of incredible and rewarding to have served six administrations,” Stringfellow said. “I would like to be remembered as someone who did her best to make the city a better place. I have been blessed with support, love, and laughter during my tenure as the clerk.
“I thank the mayors and all the councilmembers for their vote of confidence in me to serve as the municipal clerk for the city. I wish the current administration — Mayor Bradley and others — continued success.”
In 1992, the state of Louisiana passed a law prohibiting dual position with municipal governments. Grambling City Councilwoman Rosetta Days had also been serving as Municipal Clerk, so she vacated that role with Stringfellow moving across the office to take over that position.
“I’m the only certified clerk the city has ever had,” Stringfellow said. “I am the third clerk overall, but the only certified clerk. It has been a very time-consuming job because you have to keep up with all of the laws, stay up to date by attending conferences and meetings and all of those kinds of things. There is so many grants, ordinances, resolutions, licenses, and policies you have to keep up with and know how to handle. They call my office the library because I have so many books in it.”
But she is decided that it is time to focus on other things.
“I want to travel and spend more time with my family, and just do ‘me’ … it is time for me to do me,” Stringfellow said.
Stringfellow has seen many changes in her years working at Grambling City Hall.
“When I first came, I had to manually write out all of the payroll checks,” Stringfellow said. “Now it is upgraded by computers. But I used to have to write out all of those checks.
“Back then we were in the building where only the police station is now. Mrs. Charlene Greene (who served as secretary and administrative assistant) was my mentor way back then.”
Stringfellow was quick to answer when asked what the best part of her career has been.
“The people … meeting all the people,” Stringfellow said. “A lot of them have come and gone, but that’s been the best part.”
But there were some hard times, too, like in the early 2000s when she was caught up in arguments between Andrus and the City Council at that time.
“Those were tough times,” Stringfellow said. “That was a rodeo there. Everybody remembers that time period. We had meetings that ran until 10 or 11 o’clock at night and I would have to be at work at 8 the next morning.”
Stringfellow will attend her last city council meeting as official clerk tonight. She declined naming her replacement to leave that for Bradley to announce during tonight’s meeting. But she said he has been training the replacement, who she said will handle official duties at tonight’s meeting.
“I think I’m just going to attend it,” Stringfellow said. “I’ll let them handle the meeting so they can type up their own (official) minutes.”
