Agenda Items & Discussion

• Clerk's 5-year strategic modernization plan: The Clerk to Council presented a 5-year strategic modernization plan, describing the office's history (the clerk role did not formally exist until the early 1900s) and current reliance on largely manual, paper-based processes.
• Request to formally recognize the Clerk's Office as a council division: The Clerk asked council to formally designate her office as a division of the city council (the legislative branch), comparing it to the City Court Clerk's office, which is an established office within the judicial branch (though that position is an employee of the mayor's administration). She clarified she was not requesting a new budget, cost center, or title change — only formal recognition of the office's existing role and identity, citing concerns about lack of institutional respect and authority without that designation.
• Civil service and due-process implications: Council discussed how civil service status provides due-process protections (such as a hearing before termination) compared to an at-will appointed position, and how this would or would not apply to the Clerk's office under the proposed change.

Key Decisions & Votes

• No formal ordinance or resolution vote was taken during this strategic planning session; council discussed the Clerk's request for formal divisional recognition and related civil-service questions without reaching a recorded vote.