New Town Hall staffers like their shared duties

They have adjoining desks and confer regularly each day, but Jennifer Herring and Anji Viola, who were hired within three months of each other this year, took far different paths to La Conner's Town Hall.

Herring is a native Virginian who earned a bachelor's degree in government and international politics from George Mason University near Washington, D.C., served with the Peace Corps in West Africa, and previously worked as a children's librarian in the San Diego suburb of Coronado, Calif.

Viola, a cousin of former Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher Frank Viola, is a self-described "Valley...