Doris Trinley served Highland Beach for 25 years, including six as a commissioner.
Now she has retired and has time to enjoy the town she loves.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Few people understand the inner workings of Highland Beach as well as Doris Trinley.
A former town commissioner who left public office in March after having been elected to two three-year terms, Trinley first began serving the residents of Highland Beach as a town employee.
Hired as a secretary in 1988, Trinley quickly moved up the ranks and within a year became deputy town clerk. In early 1995, she was appointed to serve as the town clerk, a job she held until Jan. 5, 2007.
During those 12 years, Trinley served several mayors and, on at least one occasion, was called on to serve as interim town manager.
“For me, the best part of being town clerk was the chance to be an integral ‘link’ to the commission, the staff and, most importantly, the Highland Beach residents,” said Trinley, 76. “I always enjoyed the interaction with them and the questions and comments that went with it.”
Two months after retiring as town clerk, she was elected without opposition to her first term as a town commissioner and three years later was re-elected again, also without opposition.
“I’m so grateful to have been a part of this town as it grew and progressed,” she said. “There’s a real sense of pride in Highland Beach.”
Now out of the public eye after 25 years of service to residents of Highland Beach — as the result of term limits — Trinley is taking time to relax and enjoy living in the town she’s called home since 1983.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t appreciate everything about being here in Highland Beach,” she said. “I always say if everyone has to be someplace, I’ll take here.”
Those who served with Trinley on the Town Commission use words like “compassionate” and “sincere” to describe her style. Others will tell you that she was always fair.
“Doris was an outstanding town clerk,” says Commissioner Lou Stern, who credits Trinley with helping him get involved in town government. “As a town commissioner she had a total grasp of each and every situation. When she spoke, her words were right on.”
Mayor Bernard Featherman points out that Trinley’s experience as a member of the town staff helped her serve as a strong commissioner.
“She called things the way she saw them,” he said.
Trinley says she is adjusting to not being involved in town government for the first time in more than a quarter century but will stay out of the spotlight.
“It was exciting,” she said. “You never knew what was going to happen next.”
— Rich Pollack
Ten Questions:
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school?
A. I was born and grew up in the mile-square town of South Amboy, N.J., the gateway to the Jersey Shore in Middlesex County.
Q. What are some of the highlights of your life?
A.The highlight of my life was the birth of my three sons: Jay, who is deceased; Michael, the lead golf pro at Boca Raton Resort & Club; and Paul, a tax attorney in Boca Raton.
Another highlight has been the birth of my grandchildren, Tara and Luke, courtesy of Paul and my delightful daughter-in-law, Alicia.
Q. How did you choose to make your home in Highland Beach?
A. When the family moved to west Boca in the 1980s, we had a beach-parking permit and it was agreed that the family wish was to someday live in one of those grand condos. Eventually that wish came true in early 1983.
Q. What is your favorite part about living in Highland Beach?
A.The sheer beauty which surrounds us, from the tiniest flower to the tallest palm, the sunrises, sunsets, southern skies … oh, my.
Q. What is your No. 1 takeaway from your two terms as a town commissioner?
A. My No. 1 takeaway is that you can’t please all the people all the time. There is no such thing as perfect.
Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
A. Norah Jones, Anne Murray and Andrea Bocelli.
Q. What do people not know about you that you wish they would?
A. Nothing really. With me, what you see is what you get.
Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?
A. Yes, from American poet Edward Markham. “For all your days prepare, and treat them ever alike. When you are the anvil, bear; when you are the hammer, strike.”
Q. What was the last book you read and would recommend?
A. The last book I re-read was To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. It speaks to me of courage, compassion and human frailty.
Q. Who or what makes you laugh?
A. My brother Tom Ryan, the world’s greatest storyteller.
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