Town Clerk: Elected or Appointed?

On November 7th, Cheshire gets to decide if we continue to have an elected or an appointed Town Clerk.

The question on the ballot will be simply:  Shall Sections 2-2(b) and 6-14 changing the Town Clerk from an elected to an appointed position be approved?

How are we to decide?

Let’s start with a little background about the position.

In our history, the town clerk position is among the earliest statutes on the books in colonial America. Colonists understood the need and value in keeping accurate records of births and deaths and perhaps most important then and now, keeping detailed land records and agreements. Today, the town clerk position also includes issuing licenses, managing all official records of the town and playing an important role in our elections.

According to Connecticut Statutes, this is the list of town clerk responsibilities with regard to local elections:

1. Attend bi-annual conferences hosted by the secretary of the state to discuss election laws, procedures, or related matters

2. Examine and approve applications for admission as an elector

3. Distribute campaign finance forms upon request

4. Act as filing repository for municipal office candidates’ campaign finance statements

5. Notify the secretary of the state of campaign finance statement filing violations

6. Certify nominating petitions

7. Issue absentee ballot applications, direct the preparation of absentee ballots, and maintain permanent absentee ballot records

8. Compile election results and forward them to the Office of the Secretary of the State

9. Submit up-to-date voting district maps and reports on the number of registered and party-enrolled voters to the secretary of the state

10. Keep custody of voting machine keys and other election materials

11. Prepare the explanatory text for a local referendum question.

As you can see, the town clerk is a powerful and important administrative role in our local elections.

In my view, the argument against an appointed town clerk is less than compelling, especially in Cheshire. The argument is that an appointed town clerk would somehow be less responsive to the public (merely because the person would be appointed rather than elected.) In Cheshire and elsewhere there are many dedicated civil servants that regularly go above and beyond in doing their jobs. One need not be elected to be especially responsive. Professionals will get the job done.

The other argument is that an appointed town clerk introduces ”cronyism” into our local politics; as if we’re still living in the Tammany Hall or ”political machine” era of local politics. But first of all, Cheshire doesn’t have an elected Mayor or First Selectman, so there isn’t anyone handing out patronage jobs.  Second, the town clerk would be hired by our professional Town Manager. Cheshire will always attract a competent and professional town manager. A professional administrator (like our town manager) is only going to hire other professional and competent staff. There’s no reason to think an appointed town clerk would not be responsive.

So why should we have an appointed town clerk?

Due to the demands of new technology, like many careers, the role of the town clerk requires more technical skills and professional training. Our current town clerk is very professional. But in the event we ever need to select a new town clerk, the position should be filled by another professional -a person with all the necessary expertise and experience. In short, an appointed town clerk.

Why not an elected town clerk?

An elected town clerk is basically a role of the dice – which is an odd way to choose a person to fill an important administrative role in our local elections. Now more than ever, we should have supreme confidence in the professionalism of our town clerk’s office, especially with regard to safeguarding our election process.

Really, when one thinks about it, our elected town clerk model is more prone to favoritism (if not ”cronyism.”) I mean anyone can run for the position…and if that person has the support of the majority party, they are likely to win whether they’re qualified or not.

Not convinced yet we should have an appointed town clerk?

There is an ever growing list of towns in Connecticut switching to an appointed town clerk. Currently thirty-eight of our one-hundred and sixty-nine towns have chosen to shed an old tradition (the elected town clerk) in favor of a more professional and forward-looking approach (an appointed town clerk.)

The thirty-eight towns that have chosen the forward-looking option include many towns that I would argue we should want to emulate in as many ways as possible – Glastonbury, Simsbury, Avon, Guilford, Madison, Woodbridge, Westport, Wilton, Canton and others. These towns are at or near the top of most lists in Connecticut; tops for income, jobs, educational achievement, safety, property values, etc. etc. These towns appear to be very successful – without having an elected town clerk. I’m not saying there’s a direct link between success and having an appointed town clerk but it certainly doesn’t appear to hurt either.

In my view, the benefits of having an appointed town clerk far outweigh the cons, especially now when our election process is under attack from internal and external forces.

On November 7th, I urge you to vote YES on Question 8. Let’s make good things happen!

Jim Jinks

Council Candidate At-Large