GUYTON — There is a new player in the City of Guyton’s administrative huddle. His name is Matthew Walker

“He is a blessing to Guyton,” City Manager Meketa Brown said at City Hall on Friday. “We love having him in the building. I think he is going to be my right-hand man, a team player.

“We are so stoked about our team.”

Walker, 41, was named Guyton’s city clerk in May.

“My background is mainly in the legal field,” Walker said. “I’ve worked in law firms and courthouses.”

Walker’s new job has a much wider range of responsibilities. These include record keeping, human resources, payroll and accounts payable.

 One of Walker’s top responsibilities in his new job is fulfilling record requests from citizens in a timely manner. 

“I like to make people happy,” he said. “Customer service, to me, is a big deal.”

Record requests are free as long as they take no more than 15 minutes to complete. Longer ones are charged at the salary rate of the lowest-paid employee capable of fulfilling them.

“A lot of the requests are small, — 15 or 20 minutes,” Walker said. “If it’s 20 minutes, I’m not going to charge them for the extra five minutes.”

Walker believes his skills mesh well with Brown’s. Hired by nearly a year ago as city clerk, she has a financial background. She was elevated to city manager shortly after she was hired.

“We really work hand in hand,” Walker said. “She tends to do a lot of the stuff like working with the mayor and meeting with people. We both do that but I’m a little bit more of a behind-the-scenes person.”

City Hall has only four employees, including Brown and Walker.

“Everybody here wears multiple hats,” Walker said. “If one of us is bogged down with something, the other one steps up and helps out. ... It’s wonderful because everybody chips in.”

Walker doesn’t mind the frantic pace, even when he is needed to assist with handling monthly water bills.

“I enjoy that because I like the variety of stuff (that comes up),” Walker said. “I love to learn. If I’m not learning, I’m not growing. I feel like I am just sitting still. 

“I always have to have a challenge and that is one of my favorite parts about this job. While most people would freak out because it involves so many things and so many interruptions, I got used to that in the legal field.”

Walker suggested that citizens attend city council meetings and get to know city officials, believing it will lead to better government.

“I enjoy meeting new people because you never know what you will learn,” he said. “Through every interaction, I try to learn something about them and learn something about myself.”