FALLSBURG—According to the Fallsburg Deputy Supervisor Sean Wall-Carty, recently appointed Town Clerk Rebecca Patterson Valree has resigned. 

Valree’s resignation comes approximately six months after long-time Town Clerk Donna Akerley retired and Deputy Clerk Elizabeth Malave-Santos resigned. 

Valerie was appointed to fill the remainder of Akerley’s elected term, which ends on December 31, 2023. 

Fallsburg Town Supervisor Kathy Rappaport said in a statement that Valree resigned due to “health reasons” and that the Deputy Clerk, Paula Grogan, will be handling the duties until someone is elected. 

“Taking on the role as town clerk was something that was very exciting and it was also very challenging,” Valree told the Democrat. 

Valree says she needed to focus on her health but said she is proud that she was Fallsburg’s first African-American Town Clerk. 

Valree started as town clerk in August 2022 and said her last day was January 6, 2023. 

Prior to becoming town clerk,  Valree operated her own successful taxi service based in Fallsburg, D.C. Taxi, before retiring from that endeavor. 

Valree said she also wants to focus on her family and enjoying the best life that she can. 

For the 2023 tax year, the Town of Fallsburg has asked the Sullivan County Treasurer’s Office to handle the submission of property taxes due to Akerley retiring late last year. 

Rappaport said previously, “The plan is to have an elected receiver of taxes for 2024.”