Meet Sandy Lange:
Secretary “Plus” for Southampton
If
you call the Southampton Municipal
Complex by dialing 859-2736, chances are you’ll be greeted by the pleasant
voice of Sandy Lange. She’s the person
you generally call when you need information about municipal services, like
“how do I get a new recycling bucket?”, or “how do I get rid of my old dish
washer (or any other appliance)?”
There may be a dead deer on the road in
front of your house, or a stray dog running around the neighborhood — call
Sandy.
Ever since March, 1998, Sandy has been
assisting the Municipal Clerk/Administrator, Jack Lipsett, as Secretary and the people of Southampton
as the person who has most of the answers to their questions. She does much of the typing for Mr. Lipsett
and takes messages for all the municipal departments, as well as maintaining
the message recorder.
You might think that’s enough for one
person to handle, but there’s a lot more.
Sandy is the person you see for licenses, whether it is for your dog,
your kennel, your tavern, or the raffle your non-profit organization will be
conducting.
When you see a legal notice for
Southampton Township in your local paper, it was Sandy who wrote it up and
placed it there. There are reports and
files to be kept on all these functions, as well as monies to be received and
deposited.
Those calls you make concerning the
services of the Public Works Department, like garbage pickup issues, pothole
and road repair issues, shrub and brush
chipping, are all screened and directed to the right people by Sandy.
When not dealing with the public, Sandy
is busy with routine office duties for Township officials, like sorting and distributing the mail, ordering supplies for all offices, keeping a
calendar for the Mayor and members of the Township Committee for meetings and
events, and maintaining the township postage machine.
Sandy is also responsible for filing and
maintaining the Township’s minutes, ordinances, resolutions and correspondence.
Sandy also serves as the receptionist at
the Municipal Building, and she’s the person who will meet and greet you when
you come by for business. Her office is
just inside the main entrance to the municipal building, to the left of the
large township logo.
Sandy was born and raised in Irvington,
NJ. An only child, she married into a
family with 6 children. Her husband Rob
lived in Palmyra when they met. They
were married in 1976, living at Budd Lake, NJ.
They moved to Pemberton Township in 1978, then moved to Southampton in
December, 1993.
She brings a wealth of experience to her
job in Southampton, having been a manager’s secretary at Exxon Corp.; the
secretary to the president of a mining company and an employee in the marketing
department of a homebuilder.
Sandy and Rob’s weekends are spent on the
water! They have a 26’ boat that they
keep at Barnegat Bay and a 14’ boat that they trailer around to different
rivers in New Jersey and the Chesapeake Bay.
They love to explore different rivers and recently had the thrill of
seeing two bald eagles on the Maurice River.
Sandy has a green thumb and takes a great
deal of pleasure in her gardening and watching and feeding the birds and other
wildlife in her backyard. Her love of
animals is reflected in the seriousness with which she takes her responsibility
with licensing of animals and dealing with resident inquiries about animals in
the community. She loves hearing your
stories about your favorite pet — and she hears a lot of them.
When asked about on-the-job anecdotes,
Sandy recalls the call from a puzzled resident who wanted to know how to deal
with a peacock which was strutting his stuff on the family car. She can play a practical joke on her boss,
too, as when Jack Lipsett was new to the job and was told by Sandy that it was
a Township tradition for the Administrator to dress up as the Easter Bunny for
the annual Easter Egg hunt.
So now you know all about Sandy. She confided that one of her greatest
pleasures on the job is knowing that she has helped a resident. Next time you call, let her know that you appreciate her efforts
to make life in Southampton just a little better for everyone who lives here.