TEMPERANCE -- This is a very busy year for Bedford Township's new clerk.

Trudy Hershberger has four elections to prepare for: a closed primary this month, a school tax renewal in May, an open primary in August, and the general election in November. The clerk is also the ex officio township sexton.

There's a lot to keep track of. But Mrs. Hershberger needs no training. She was deputy clerk for more than 10 years under her predecessor, Bob Schockman, who died last month, and has been filling in for him since September when he went on sick leave for a liver transplant. Like other members of the board, she expected him to return to work within a few months.

"I've been doing this job, but it's not the same," she explained. "I always had the sense that Bob would be coming back."

Last week the township board appointed her to fill the rest of Mr. Schockman's unfinished four-year term, which extends to the end of this year. The 6-0 vote was taken after Supervisor Walt Wilburn called for a moment of silence in memory of Mr. Schockman.

State law requires that a new clerk be named within 45 days of the position becoming vacant. Trustee Jim Goebel expressed the prevailing sentiment when he said that Mrs. Hershberger's appointment "makes sense."

Mrs. Hershberger, 44, said she plans to run for a full term as a Republican. She hadn't even belonged to a political party, she noted. The clerk post pays $63,463.55 a year, a salary that has been the same since 2009.

To qualify as a candidate, someone must file petitions with 50 to 100 signatures of registered township voters by 4 p.m. May 15, according to Garnet Francis, Mrs. Hershberger's deputy and the former elections clerk.

As of last week, the township has handed out 11 packets to prospective candidates for elective office, Mrs. Francis said.

Mrs. Hershberger became a township employee in 1997 in the building department. She did a stint in the assessing department before Mr. Schockman made her his deputy.

She is a lifelong Bedford Township resident and is a Bedford High School graduate. She and her husband, Todd Hershberger, live in Lambertville with their four daughters aged 16 to 25.

In other business last week, the board approved hiring Roger Dindyal for a planning position at a salary of $34,463.

First Published February 15, 2012, 5:00 a.m.