Wallingford and Barbel join Town Clerk's office
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
There are two new faces in the Town Clerk's office: Diane Wallingford and Nefrediezha L. Barbel.

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Diane Wallingford, left, and Nefrediezha L. Barbel.

When former Assistant Town Clerk James Grieder left mid-February to become Assistant Administrator at the Historic District Commission, Administrative Clerk Linda MacDonald moved into his role and Wallingford was hired to assume MacDonald's duties.

Wallingford, an island resident for 10 years, had been assisting her husband in his heating business. Prior to that she was at Nantucket Bank for five years and before that job was with Pacific National Bank until it was taken over by Bank of Boston. Wallingford, who is a full-time employee at the Town Clerk's office, has sons aged 30 and 34, one of whom lives on Nantucket and the other in Arizona.

The newest person in the office is Barbel, who began as Temporary Administrative Clerk on July 10. Named after Egyptian goddess Queen Nefertiti, Barbel moved to the island about a month ago to be near family members. She had been in a temporary bookkeeping position at the town pier office when she saw the posting for her present job, which will last through October while MacDonald is on a travel vacation.

Barbel, who has children aged two and three, was raised in New York City and graduated from UMass Dartmouth with bachelor's degrees in psychology and African and African-American studies. She lived on the Cape for the last 10 years near her parents' home in Falmouth. Prior to moving to Nantucket, Barbel was an administrative assistant at the Barnstable County Human Services office. She hopes when her position ends with the Town Clerk she is able to find a permanent post in another town department.

"I'm enjoying myself already," she said of her latest role. "Everyone is

very nice." I