Last modified: Friday, October 30, 2009 2:18 AM EDT Diane Casagni in her Norton office. (Staff photo by Mike Gelbwasser) She kept track of Norton for last 27 years BY MICHAEL GELBWASSER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NORTON -- Before she knew it, Town Clerk Diane Casagni faced her last week on the job. After more than 27 years, today is her last day in town hall. "I started out by saying, 'I have eight Mondays to work.' So, I've been counting the Mondays," Casagni said earlier this week. "All of a sudden, I came to work and said, 'This is my last Monday.' It's hard to believe." Casagni, 62, will be honored during a retirement reception from 6 to 10 tonight, at The Chateau restaurant on Bay Road. Her retirement marks the end of nearly three decades of consistency in Norton's town clerk's office. Casagni and Assistant Town Clerk Anne Rodrigues have been a team for all but the first two weeks of Casagni's tenure. And secretary Sandra Goulet joined them 17 years ago. "Anne and Sandy and I, it's more than just a working relationship. We've become friends. We respect one another," Casagni said. "I never considered myself the boss. We're just co-workers. Sometimes, I'd have an idea. Anne might say, 'It might be better this way,' and it usually was." Casagni started work in mid-June 1982, shortly after selectmen appointed her to serve until the 1983 annual town election. Town Clerk Ed Smith had stepped down, after about 20 years in office, when voters adopted a bylaw splitting the clerk from the treasurer and collector positions. Smith remained treasurer and collector. Casagni, a mother of five who was active in the Nourse Elementary School Parent Advisory Board, was among four applicants for the 17-hour-a-week clerk's job. "I didn't think I had a chance of this job at all. I figured it would be political," she said. Selectmen supported Casagni and Harry Robbins, before ultimately choosing Casagni. "I was right in town, so if the kids got sick in school, I would be there for them," said Casagni, whose position is now 30 hours a week. Being there for Norton residents has been among Casagni's joys the past three decades. People "come in and talk to you, and they tell you good news, or a sad story," she said. While that hasn't changed, the demands of the office have. "The law always interested me. I just didn't realize I'd be dealing with 267 chapters of it," Casagni said. Some of those are due to additional mandates the state has passed on to municipalities. "They keep adding responsibilities to the town clerk's office," Casagni said. Computers have made other tasks easier than they were with typewriters, which Casagni used when she took office. "I learned the computer on the job back then," she said. "Certifying nomination papers, we used to have to take a voter list and call out all the names." Casagni said her youngest son, Todd, was in nursery school when she took over. "Now, he's married with two kids," she said. In retirement, Casagni said she plans to spend more time with her children - three sons and two daughters, three of whom live in Florida - and her grandchildren. "I just miss them a lot," she said. Casagni also became engaged about two months ago. The couple has not set a wedding date. Rodrigues and Goulet are expected to staff the office until selectmen appoint an interim clerk or until the April 27 annual town election. "Twenty-seven years, we've never had a cross word," said Rodrigues, who added she doesn't want to be town clerk. Selectmen have proposed a charter change making the elected clerk an appointed one. The proposal is on the Nov. 18 special town meeting agenda, and heads to the April 2010 annual ballot if it passes there. Casagni opposed the plan last year, and it failed at the October 2008 fall annual town meeting. While selectmen point to the success of a similar change, to the treasurer/tax collector a few years ago, Casagni remains against it. "I really believe that because of the position, it should remain elected," she said. "We're certifying election results. We're certifying nomination papers. "I think the people can make a proper decision who to elect." MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.