Lynn Porter, staff receive Ned and Goldie Paine group award

For nearly 35 years, Lynn Porter has been an integral member of the city of Trussville’s government, issuing business licenses, collecting taxes and helping support nearly all factions of the city’s day-to-day operation.

On Feb. 25, Porter and the Trussville City Clerk’s office were recognized for their behind-the-scenes work in City Hall as recipients of the Ned and Goldie Paine Memorial Gatekeeper group award, as selected by the three previous years’ recipients. The award was presented at the annual Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet.

“We were really excited. How often do a bunch of revenuers get selected?” Porter said. “Sometimes ours is a thankless job, although occasionally we do have citizens that come in and thank us.”

Porter first moved into the Clerk’s Office in 1982 when she was hired for the newly created role of assistant city clerk. It was her first job since returning to the workforce after taking time off when her first child was born. It was a two-person office at the time. In 1986, she was promoted to city clerk and has since served as an officer in both the Jefferson County Clerks’ Association and State Clerk’s Association, including state president in 2013. In 2014, she was honored as Clerk of the Year in Alabama. 

Over the years, the city has grown rapidly and so has the size of the City Clerk’s Office. 

In addition to Porter, the City Clerk’s Office now includes Cathy Jensen (human resources and payroll), Winifred Payne (business license and sales tax), Jenny Shipp (accounts receivable), Christopher Coleman (revenue officer and rental taxes) and Rhonda Rhudy (accounts payable). Until recently, Porter was assisted by Bob Christmas, former Clay city clerk, who came to Trussville as an administrative assistant and backed Porter up in meetings. Christmas retired earlier this year. Helping to fill his void at times is newly hired mayor’s assistant Stacy Frazier.

“We’re just all-around good people … I can’t say enough about my staff. They all know what their job is; they all do their job without being told, and they know when their deadlines are,” Porter said. “I like to think my staff is courteous to the public when they come in and make every effort to assist when we can, refer to somewhere or listen to them when it’s something we have no control over.”

Mayor Buddy Choat has worked alongside Porter and her office as a city councilman and now the newly elected mayor. 

“From Day 1, Lynn and her staff have been such a pleasure to work with. They walked me through the different processes that are required to run the city each day,” Choat said. “Lynn, Winnie, Bob, Rhonda, Cathy and now Jenny are the faces of City Hall … Our city is very fortunate to have this staff every day looking out for us and ‘taking care of business.’”

Porter, who has worked every job in the clerk’s office at one time or another, is ready to step in at a moment’s notice to assist the community and her staff. In addition to serving the government and public, she said the office prides itself in watching how it spends every penny of the taxpayers’ money, which includes reusing every paper clip and piece of office supply possible.

“I think each of these individuals are very conscientious, not only of their own job, but others,” she said. “We’re the penny-pinching department in City Hall. We try to be good stewards of the public funds and of the public confidence.”