Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci is known as a kind of high-tech wonk. His office has had a Facebook page for a couple years now. He helps register voters via text messages. He was taking government high tech before the Obama campaign found such success with Youtube.

But the 27-year-old — he won office at age 24 — also seems to appreciate history. You know, old stuff. So he sent in a letter to the editor/press release (he’s also really good at these…) congratulating the town on marking its 218th year. Today is the official founding date. Woohoo! Cake at Maple Avenue??? His letter, of course, points out all the technological advances that have occurred in his office, which can make life easier for Clarkstowners.

So, we share. Here’s Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci’s letter, with slight editing for punctuation and style, on the 218th anniversary of the town’s birth

1791 saw a lot of firsts, the First Bank of the United States, the first U.S. mint, and the first establishment of Clarkstown, when it was incorporated on March 18 of that year. As both the Clarkstown Town Clerk and a lifelong Clarkstown resident, I am filled with pride in acknowledging the 218th birthday of Clarkstown!
Much has changed in these 218 years, not the least of which is that Clarkstown has grown from a population of less than 2,000 to nearly 85,000 people, making it one of the largest towns in New York.  Clarkstown’s residents in 1791 could not have imagined the Clarkstown of today. Just getting to their Town Clerk was an ordeal, but with the advent of the Internet, many of our services are right online. Today, www.clarkstownclerk.com serves as a virtual office, better facilitating the needs of busy Clarkstown residents. I try to incorporate new technologies, such as podcasts, blogs, widgets, and text-messaging, in order to make the town clerk’s office as user-friendly and accessible as possible. Thanks to a state grant I was awarded to digitize Clarkstown’s records, which predate the Declaration of Independence, digital records allow instantaneous access, and not just in our town, but worldwide!  More importantly, by digitizing Clarkstown’s records, I am making a commitment to the community that these historical records will be safeguarded and preserved for future generations.
Time may not have been kind to our country’s banks, but Clarkstown has fared well these past two centuries. Whether you look to our efforts to stay on the forefront of technology or the fact that we are ranked the second-safest place to live among comparably sized communities, Clarkstown is not just a great place to live; it is a place one can be proud to call home. I know I am.  Please join me in wishing Clarkstown a Happy 218th Birthday!