Ready for the challenge: Hayley Moore takes over as new Badger City Clerk

Badger native Hayley (Hendrickson) Moore assumed the role as the new Badger City Clerk on June 22, 2021. She enjoys the changes, challenges, and opportunities to learn new things that this job provides. (photo by Ryan Bergeron)

When Hayley (Hendrickson) Moore graduated from Badger High School in 2012, she didn’t know what she wanted to do, taking seven years to discover what path she wanted to pursue. But, she eventually did find a passion for something and that is accounting.

She started pursuing business and enjoyed some of her accounting classes required to obtain her business degree.

“(I) realized that that was the focus I wanted to do. My goals and dreams are a little different than what I’m doing now,” Moore said, “but when I saw that this position opened, I was ready for a challenge. I was ready for a change.”

What position is this?

She is getting to apply her passion to a new role, one allowing her to give back to a community where she grew up. On June 22, 2021, Moore assumed the role as the new Badger City Clerk, succeeding former clerk Angie Gregerson.

Nearly four months into the job, Moore described the transition into the new role, what her duties are, what she has enjoyed about it so far, what have proven to be her biggest challenges, and a little bit about her family life.

“I wanted to kind of come back and do what I can to help Badger grow, to help it succeed more than it has in the past,” Moore said, “or bring some things back or just help our residents that have been here forever.”

Moore began her post-secondary education in 2019 by pursuing her Associate’s degree in Business in 2019 through Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls. She graduated from there in 2020 with highest honors and an A.S. Business certificate in Supervisory Leadership.

In 2020, she began pursuing her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting with a minor in Ag Business through the University of Minnesota Crookston. She is currently attending school full time online and will graduate in May 2022.

Before coming to this job, she worked at Border Bank in Middle River for four years. As for the transition into this job, Moore explained how there was not that in between person to provide her training related to the job.

“It’s kind of a learn as you go (job),” Moore said.

Right now it’s going well, she said, but does include plenty of learning.

“I always tell people when they ask me how the job is going, that… accounting is my major. Accounting is what I love— numbers, things like that,” Moore said. “But accounting and government accounting are two totally different things. It’s a whole nother ballgame. You learn things every day that you never would have imagined that you’d ever have to deal with. It’s a challenge, but it’s a fun challenge.”

She provided examples of how it’s different. She highlighted how government accounting includes more laws.

“Being a municipality, you have to do things a certain way,” Moore said, “which is kind of with anything, but there’s so many more, more laws that you have to follow.”

Not having the same day to day schedule, Moore explained how she goes wherever the job takes her. Her schedule depends on the time of the month, including coordinating with the maintenance supervisor to do water billing. She also stays busy keeping up to online meetings with Roseau County, such as with the COVID team.

As Moore said, anything and everything can come up, from residents looking for building permits and her working on regular accounting procedures to her making deposits and paying bills.

“There’s always a day that someone needs something and it can be as small as they have a change of phone number that we need to update in all of our systems,” Moore said, “or someone asked a question looking for an old mortgage that they had through the City of Badger and research into that. It just changes day to day.”

To see the complete story, read the October 13 issue of The Tribune in print or online.