Some municipalities have been hoping to make changes to their clerks’ offices.
City of Sandwich recently discussed an alderman’s idea for strengthening the independence of the office of its elected city clerk by eliminating a potential conflict of interest. Sandwich didn’t change anything this time around, but the idea is now out there for people to think on.
City of Sycamore is running a referendum this election cycle to see if residents want to change from an elected city clerk to an appointed clerk. The difference is who the clerk answers to: an elected clerk answers to the voters, an appointed one to the city manager or mayor. If Sycamore residents vote to retain their elected clerk, the city plans to continue paying the elected clerk the usual full-time compensation. Day-to-day, nothing much changes either way, except for the answer-to part.
So far, we see respect for the clerk and for the public. That’s good government.
…And then there’s DeKalb.
City of DeKalb is running a referendum to see if residents want to change from an elected city clerk to an appointed clerk, as Sycamore is doing. But if DeKalb residents vote to keep their elected clerk, DeKalb will slash compensation for the clerk from $8,000 to zero.
This is nothing new for DeKalb. In 2012, the administration also ran a referendum, including the condition that it would cut the customary full-time pay down to $5,000 if we retained an elected clerk (and we did, with more than 70% of the vote). In 2019, the city tried to abolish the office of the elected clerk outright, but the state’s attorney warned them off that path.
It’s the one line they can’t cross — the city has to have a successful referendum to get what it wants. That still leaves a lot of clerk-related fair game, though. Since 2013, nine clerks have served DeKalb. It’s because in addition to setting low pay, the administration chips away at the elected office. This includes systematically usurping the clerk’s statutory role and literally driving them out, using gaslighting, intimidation tactics and other abuses, in attempts to subordinate the person of the clerk to the city manager.
DeKalb at this moment also shamelessly drives the narrative that the reason the city needs an appointed clerk is because of instability caused by high turnover, pretending they’re not the creators of that turnover.
Let’s also push back at another propaganda talking point, about an appointed clerk having a higher level of professionalism than an elected one. The state-level Municipal Clerks of Illinois (MCI) trains both elected and appointed municipal clerks using the same curriculum. Unless you ask, you can’t tell the difference. Besides, while DeKalb used to invest in training its clerks, it doesn’t bother anymore. The last clerk who received any training from MCI was in 2018 — it was me, and I negotiated with the city to attend.
Lynn was appointed to the Office of DeKalb City Clerk to complete a previous clerk’s term of office, serving from August 2018 to May 2021.
Adding 10/10/2024: Facebook post on what “professional” actually means.