Melodye Conway, who grew up in East Wareham, says she wants to bring a "fresh perspective" to the office of the Town Clerk.

"My years of business experience as well as my focus on customer service will bring new insight as to how the business side of the Clerk's office can operate more efficiently and effectively," Conway said.

Conway said she sees "document control" as the department's biggest challenge. "They are responsible for an overwhelming amount of paper."

Conway said she wants to make more forms and documents available on the town website so people can prepare for a visit to the Clerk's office from home. "When you allow people to have their own self-service, it frees up your staff to do other things," she said.

Conway said she also wants to make historical records, which can currently only be viewed by appointment, available online. "There are state, federal, and local grants that are available to help communities preserve their historical records, and I think that's been overlooked and it's an opportunity for advancement and improvement," she said. "Those are very fragile documents. They should all be digitized and available in a format that protects the original documents, yet allows people to scan ... [and] keyword search."

The customer-service window can be used when people do not have access to the Internet or have business that must be done entirely in-person, Conway said. "Technology is just a tool to give you better use of your existing resources."

Conway has spent the last two-and-a-half years working for Comcast in customer service. She has previously worked as a real estate agent with a focus on the Wareham and Onset market. She also worked for Tupperware for ten years, during which she was promoted to a senior executive management position overseeing 20 to 40 consultants. She is a notary public, a 1987 graduate of Wareham High School, and took classes at Bridgewater State College.

Outside of work, Conway has two sons. She has coached Wareham Youth Soccer, was a coach and tournament director for Wareham Little League, and was a board member and president of the Wareham Tigers Pop Warner Association. She served on the Cable Advisory Committee, which developed a contract that enabled the town to open the Wareham Community Television studio. She also served on the Police Station Feasibility Study Committee, which examined the current facility and made recommendations for future changes. She was a founding director of WomanAde of Wareham.

Conway said she has always wanted to run for the Town Clerk's office and sees it as a way to give back to the community. "I really believe I can make a difference. I have something to offer here and [the Clerk's office] is the place where I can do it most effectively," she said.

If elected, Conway said she would like to be able to say three years from now "that our document-control is in a better place, a more streamlined place, and that our historical records are better preserved and accessible to the community."