DeKalb City voters will find a referendum question on their November ballot regarding the status of the city clerk position - “Shall the city clerk of the city of DeKalb be appointed, rather than elected?”
The city clerk role is currently an elected position and has faced turmoil and turnover for the last 10 years, said DeKalb City Manager Bill Nicklas.
Nicklas favors having the city clerk as an appointed role, which he said will bring stability to the job.
He also has in mind who can take on the role - Ruth Scott, who’s the city’s executive assistant and recording secretary.
Nicklas said as the recording secretary, Scott has the authority to “take the council's minutes use the use the city seal to verify the signatures of city officials on documents and things like that.”
He said if the public votes in favor of an appointed role, they wouldn't necessarily be placing an ad out for the opening since the recording secretary has already been fulfilling the clerk’s duties.
“Why would we put an ad out for somebody who has been doing a job exceptionally well?” he said. “It seems like we already have the answer at hand.”
Ruth Scott received much praise during the most recent city council meeting for her endeavor digitizing the city’s records, which go back to the late 1800s.
“It is just wonderful that you took the time to do that,” said DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes at the meeting. “So, thank you so much.”
Nicklas said Scott has been assuming the responsibilities of a city clerk for the last three years while the elected city clerk, Sasha Cohen, has been absent from the job.
A judge in March ruled that Cohen forfeited, or abandoned, his job when he failed to submit economic interest forms.
And this won’t be the first time the city has brought forth a referendum question about the city clerk to voters. Ballot questions in 2006 and 2012 sought support for making the position an appointed position. Both times the referendums failed.
Nicklas said, this time, the city needs to be clear about what the clerk’s role entails.
“There wasn't a lot of conversation about what the clerk does, and, is it like a failsafe position?” he said. “Does it keep the manager from being too powerful? And there's just a lot of confusion and not a lot of educated community education.”
He said the role is primarily an administrative role.
“The clerk has never had any control over the work of the city manager or for that matter, the Council or the Mayor,” Nicklas said. “The clerk does takes minutes, as I explained and does the recording of documents.”
One of the previous referendums had called on the city manager to make the appointment, while another stated the mayor would make the appointment of city clerk.
The new referendum doesn’t specify who would make the appointment, which leaves that open for the council to decide at another time.
Nicklas said Cohen is the ninth person in a decade that has filled the role of city clerk.
So, why the high turnover? Previously the job was full-time and included a salary and benefits. A former city council changed the position. Currently, it’s a part-time role and earns $8,000 dollars annually.
Nicklas said the city council may decide to remove the salary all together.
Sandie Maahs is the President of Municipal Clerks of Illinois, a professional organization that provides training opportunities for clerks across the state.
Maahs said it’s not uncommon for a city clerk to receive low compensation.
“It’s usually because their position falls in line with something full-time within the municipality,” Maahs said. That's where they’re receive the majority of their compensation from.”
So, for instance, in addition to being the city clerk, they may also be the clerk collector.
“We also have a deputy clerk slash assistant to the mayor,” Maahs said. “So, it is very common for a clerk to hold more than one role within a municipality.”
Maahs serves as the village clerk for Davis Junction full-time and the village clerk for the Village of Kingston part-time.
“I'm very all-encompassing here [in Davis Junction],” she said. “In Kingston I am just a statutory clerk. So, I only do these duties required by law.”
She said differences between an appointed versus an elected clerk lies in to whom they’re held accountable.
In both of her roles as municipal clerks she’s been appointed and answers to the respective village presidents.
“And so, my, my ability to teach to treat everyone fairly, without repercussion, is high,” Maahs said.
She said, in contrast, “an elected clerk only answers to the residents and so their ability to hold the board accountable is higher than an appointed clerk who answers to some of the board.”
In addition to DeKalb residents, Sycamore residents will also consider a referendum on whether to change the city clerk position from one that is currently elected to an appointed one in the November election.
