WENDELL — Walk into Kelly Tyler’s new office at 9 Morse Village Road and you’ll see some large pieces of paper on the wall, serving as a reminder of the short-term and long-term projects handled by the town coordinator.

They were put there by her predecessor, Glenn Johnson-Mussad, but Tyler has already crossed off some of the tasks on the to-do list since starting on the job last month.

“It does help, though,” she said. “It does help to look at some of these things and what he was doing.”

Tyler was selected from four candidates vying for the position and began her new role on March 17.

“It’s a great crew of people. I really like everybody here,” she said. “We have a great town. People are so nice. The people I work with are great.”

Tyler has lived in Wendell for nine years, having grown up in Springfield before living in California and Texas. She earned a bachelor’s degree in human relations and business from Amberton University in Texas, and has an extensive background in human resources and employee benefits.

“It’s a big learning curve, as far as the government piece,” she said of her new job. “But the funny thing is in high school [and] college, one of my favorite classes was government. And why I never did anything in government, I don’t know.”

Selectboard Chair Laurie DiDonato said Tyler’s valuable experience in related fields overshadows her lack of municipal government work.

“She has a great personality and seems easy to approach. She was able to start right away, so that worked out really well,” DiDonato said. “It’s great that we got someone in so quickly.”

Johnson-Mussad left the town coordinator position to become town planner in Erving.

“He was great. I loved working with Glenn,” DiDonato said. “Sad to see him go.”

Tyler will work 32 hours a week, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

“I’m definitely a people person, always have been. I like to help people,” she said. “Some people say, ‘Oh, Kelly, she’s never met a stranger. She’s never met a stranger.’ I think that’s probably a very true statement.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-930-4120.