I am now at the end of my watch. To begin with, the supervisor has to be smart enough to complete the repetitive monthly work, then be dumb enough to do it. People in small towns have more access to a supervisor than any other official. In the eyes of the state comptroller, supervisors are seen as chief fiscal officers, he said. The supervisor may or may not, at his discretion, hire a bookkeeper.
Many supervisors have wives or family members to help out.
Nolan said that his successor should be computer literate and have a home office. This is the ongoing job, and very often the supervisor will have to look up financial information immediately. He said that many supervisors, regardless of whether they are full time or part time, find themselves willingly taking phone calls at all hours of the day or night, or greeting residents at the door, in addition to the usual rounds of meetings. He said that the changing local population base was also placing more strain on the supervisor's job. She said she had helped to do her share of the supervisor's job.