Laserfiche WebLink
Town Clerk - Appointed or Elected - You decide? <br />-Just a point of view as a Town Clerk - The decision is what is best for your community. <br />-Difficult to remove an elected position from the voters. <br />When Brewster did this in 2009 - the ATE vote was 252 Yes - 223 No <br />The Cape is currently evenly split - including Wareham and Bourne <br />In 2020 the legislature made a lot of voting regulation changes - creating a lot of change and <br />a lot more of a worklead for the Clerk's Office - mistakes here can create a legal mess - can <br />cost money for paying Town counsel to help make a correction plan. These same laws were <br />amended and chang6d slightly for the elections in 2022 - many of these changes were at the <br />last minute and we had to implement and learn the at the same time, but at least our current <br />staffing had a background. Many times people who run for Town Clerk do not have an <br />election/town meeting law background. <br />Galvin just contributed to an article stating there were 128 new Clerks and he is nervous for <br />the 2024 elections because it takes a clerk, in his opinion, a couple of years to come up to <br />speed and his only .Concern is the election, which is only one piece of our function. The <br />zba/planning/conservation appeal periods, Annual Census, Public records, vital records, <br />marriage licenses, raffles, parking tickets, dog licensing and the list goes on. Many of these <br />functions if not doneicorrectly could lead to costly legal ramifications for the town. One of the <br />reasons I love the Clerk's Office is the jobs/tasks are different all the time/every day. <br />-From a personal view as an appointed Clerk you have more accountability -because as an <br />elected Clerk you can set your own schedule -you can choose to participate in what you <br />choose to - you don't report to a designated manager. I knew a Town Clerk who decided <br />that they were only coming on Fridays to sign anything that required a Clerk's signature. <br />The day-to-day operations were handled by staff and everything was put on the Clerk's desk <br />that need signing. Don't get me wrong, I know a tremendous amount of elected clerks who <br />go over and above evkryday to get the job done. t <br />A great Town Clerk that I knew lost her election to someone who had 4 kids in the school <br />system - was heavily involved in school activities so new a lot of people - she won with no <br />experience of the Clerk's office. I also know an appointed Town Clerk who recently left her <br />appointed position because she had a Town Manager who pressured her during an election <br />to find a vote so the ballot question did not end in a tie. I am sure there are many pros and <br />cons on each side. <br />Anyone who has ever volunteered in the Clerk's Office constantly comments on not realizing <br />the vastly different r `sponsibilities and tasks we handle in the Clerk's Office. <br />I would just end wit&,most Clerks whether elected or appointed give 110% to this occupation. <br />In my opinion the required knowledge it takes to properly run a Clerk's Office requires a <br />trained professional. ,There should also be accountability that you are doing the job properly <br />in a timely manner. 'Elected Clerk are held accountable by the voters of the town, in most <br />cases, people don't hear about the day to day operations within the town hall walls. Again <br />the decision should be based on what is best for each community. <br />s <br />