After about a year on the job, the Cape Elizabeth town clerk has resigned and the office staff has been reorganized.

Ruthie Noble, a former Westbrook deputy city clerk, resigned on Oct. 12. At the same time, the Cape Elizabeth Town Council approved Deb Lane to take on the town clerk position in addition to her assistant town manager duties.

McGovern would not say why Noble, who came to Cape Elizabeth highly recommended, resigned. She had been on administrative leave for a few weeks prior to resigning and had several meetings with McGovern before leaving for good, he said.

McGovern declined to explain the circumstances behind Noble’s administrative leave.

“I really don’t want to go there,” he said. “Why people go on leave is personal.”

Noble could not be reached for comment.

McGovern said combining Lane’s duties could save the town $20,000 per year. Noble was earning $49,000 per year.

In addition to Noble’s departure, Tracy Coy’s was renamed to administrative clerk. She was the deputy town clerk. She received a few thousand dollars raise.

McGovern also said the town expects to hire a part-time clerk at $25,000 per year to assist Lane.

He said that figure came by subtracting Noble’s salary, adding in the few thousand dollars per year raises for

“The reorganization part of it I think it is important in these economic times,” he said. “I think the reorganization that we’ve done will have meaningful savings.”

Noble was the town clerk for a year after taking over for April Tracy, who had resigned last summer.

Noble had worked in Westbrook City Hall since 1998, when the finance office hired her. She had been deputy clerk since 1999. Noble, a 1979 graduate of Greely High School, is licensed in property and casualty insurance service. After nearly two decades of working in insurance, she changed careers and began working for Westbrook City Hall.

Before leaving her Westbrook post, she was a potential candidate for Westbrook city clerk, an elected position. But city employees are not allowed to run for elected positions in Westbrook.

Noble, 47, is divorced and lives in Portland.

Noble said last year after accepting the Cape job that she expected working in Cape Elizabeth would be “vastly different” from working in Westbrook, where, she said, it was easy to get caught up and distracted by the politics of the city.

McGovern said at the time of Noble’s hiring that her reputation in Westbrook was one of the reasons she was chosen for the position in Cape Elizabeth.

“She’s very well-respected in Westbrook,” McGovern had, adding that he was looking forward to working with Noble.

Lane was previously Cape’s town clerk from 1986-2003 before taking over as assistant town manager.

“It’s not really new to me,” Lane said. “Really, it’s just an add-on.”