2024 Commonwealth Heroine Ellen Agro enjoys assisting public as town clerk

Latest in a series of stories on Worcester County residents recently honored by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women.

Never really considering herself a politician, Mendon Town Clerk Ellen Agro is starting her third three-year term in the elected position.

“The kids were older, the job came up,” said Agro, explaining how she transitioned from a career in medical devices to a 13-year stint in her community’s public school system working with special education students.

Now she serves as the face of her community in the Town Hall office that she shares with an aide nine hours a week. For the most part, Agro runs a one-woman show as clerk, running elections, posting meeting notices, preparing agendas and even performing weddings.

She became a Justice of the Peace in 2018 and performed a few ceremonies until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. That changed people’s approach to weddings, Agro said, noting that in those two years, she performed about 20 ceremonies. And now it seems as if more and more people are opting for a ceremony at Town Hall.

The favorite part of her position? Helping residents and finding solutions to their questions.

“I enjoy being with the public,” Agro said. She has had a lot of practice — her children, now grown, were active in music and sports, and she has belonged to the same book club for 21 years. “If I had known exactly what the job entailed, I may have been more scared.”

But she ran again and was elected for a third time in May. Running for office, she noted, is challenging with so many details. But she enjoys the process.

“People express their voices through the ballot box,” Agro said. In her tenure as clerk, she has enhanced voter turnout through the use of social media and the town’s website. She has also improved participation in Town Meeting, introducing “clickers,” which allow those attending the meeting to vote anonymously.

“More people seem willing to attend Town Meeting, they don’t have to worry about their neighbors seeing how they vote. With the clickers, there’s no one raising a hand, no one saying yea or nay,” Agro said, explaining that not all members of a community think alike.

Always lively, debate at Town Meeting is civil, said Agro, “not like the (English) Parliament where they all yell at each other.”

Agro is one of 14 women in Worcester County who have been recognized for their contributions to their communities by state legislators. The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women feted them as the Class of 2024 Commonwealth Heroines. The organization held a ceremony in their honor at the State House in Boston last month.

Nominated by Rep. Brian Murray, D-Milford, Agro said she met the legislator when both were supporting the Taft Public Library where she served first as a member of the Friends of the Taft Public Library and then on the Board of Trustees, including a stint as the chair of the board. As chair, Agro helped craft the organization’s first strategic plan.

The representative and his wife are big proponents of the library, Agro said, adding that she is looking forward to one of the organization’s fundraisers — the cardboard boat races, scheduled for the second week of July.

“Compassionate, intelligent and motivated, Ellen Argo is a pillar of the Mendon community,” Murray wrote in his nomination. He praised her contributions to the electoral process that resulted in the community being names 2022 Best Voting Community in the district.

“Ellen has also given countless hours as a volunteer to multiple groups supporting education, music, theater and sports,” Murray wrote. “She pursues her passions for curling and disc golf and is leading an effort to introduce the sport to the town. Her commitment to enhancing community engagement and enjoyment of outdoor spaces reflects her deep care for Mendon and its residents.”

Married for almost 29 years to her husband, Mark, Agro has two adult daughters.

“I was surprised to be nominated. I got an email, and I wondered if it was real,” Agro said, explaining that because she thought it was fake, she researched it and grilled the Mendon woman who was a previous recipient. “I called her, she told me it was real.

“It floored me. I am surprised and humbled,” Agro said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 2024 Commonwealth Heroine Ellen Agro enjoys assisting public as town clerk