Creston native to be new city clerk

After years away, a Creston native is coming back to serve in city hall.

Creston City Council approved the hiring of Brandea Leach as city clerk Tuesday in a special meeting. Leach will replace current clerk Lisa Williamson, who retires at the end of the year.

While Leach only recently moved back to Creston, she spent her entire childhood here. Graduating from CHS in 2012 as Brandea Clayton, Leach went on to live in Texas and Kansas before moving back to Iowa.

“My husband’s military, so we moved around. In between I got my bachelor’s degree after I had my first kid,” Leach said. Leach and her husband Jordan have three daughters under the age of 10.

After Jordan was deployed this summer, Leach and their daughters moved back to Creston to be closer to family. “I spent my whole summer remodeling this house, and we’re just really looking forward to having a house again,” Leach said. “It’s great to be back with family.”

While she hasn’t worked in city government before, she’s excited for the new opportunity. “I came back here just looking for a different job and found the city clerk opening and wanted to try something a little bit different,” Leach said.

Previously, Leach was working as the human resources manager at a nursing home in Winterset. She will join Williamson at city hall in two weeks, training to take over her position at the end of the year.

“I’m just looking forward to learning a new role and giving back to the city of Creston and hopefully help make a difference,” Leach said. “I’m glad Lisa’s going to be with me for a few months to help me train.”

Williamson has been serving as the city clerk for the last 18 years. As city clerk, Williamson will be teaching Leach a variety of duties, including managing city records, drafting amendments to city ordinances and coordinating city documents.