New Whiteland’s longtime clerk-treasurer is moving on after more than three decades with the town.
Maribeth Alspach was first elected to the post in 1987, winning over the incumbent at the time and another challenger. She has been a backbone of much of New Whiteland’s operations, managing everything from the town’s finances to taking on the role as a town manager-like figure by overseeing trash collection contracts and event planning.
“It’s been something different every day, and I have loved it,” Alspach said.
Her last day is Friday, but she won’t be going far, she said. Alspach has lived her whole life in New Whiteland, as her parents built their home there in 1956, not long after the town was established. Alspach grew up in New Whiteland, and raised her own children there.
She will still be around to help oversee the transition for the new clerk-treasurer. Alspach told town officials that she is a phone call away, if they need her.
“I love my community, I love this town. And, you know, whoever comes behind me, it’s a lot, and I’m more than glad to come in and help them,” Alspach said.
Personally, Alspach decided it was time to retire from the full-time job as clerk-treasurer because she felt she was ready to focus on “something different.” She is not quite sure what she wants to do, but said she would like to travel with her husband and spend more time with her children and grandchildren.
She still wants to help people, though. Alspach plans to spend more time in her church, and be there for people who are lonely, who maybe do not have family around anymore, she said.
“What my heart is calling me to do is to just be available to people that are you know, lonesome,” Alspach said. “You need me to drive you to a doctor’s appointment? Do you need me to pick up something at the grocery store? Or do you just need somebody to sit on the porch with you for an hour?”
During her tenure as clerk-treasurer, one project Alspach is most proud of is the establishment of Proctor Park. The park was founded as a tribute to Sgt. Joseph E. Proctor, a Whiteland Community High School graduate and former New Whiteland resident who was killed while serving in Iraq in 2006.
“It’s just a really good thing that our community has here in the county, and that would probably be my greatest achievement while I have been employed here,” Alspach said.
The Johnson County Republican Party will hold a caucus at a later date following Alspach’s departure to fill the position. Alspach said she is aware of one person interested in filing as a candidate. Until then, the town’s deputy clerk-treasurer will oversee the clerk-treasurer’s responsibilities.
