How Are City Clerks Doing? Survey Data Says…

2. escribemeetings.com
eScribe
State of the Clerk’s
Office Survey Results
March 28, 2024
with Michelle Casavecchia-Somers
& Michelle Smibert
Clerks on Call

3. Housekeeping
• Thank you for joining!
• All audience members are mute by default
• Let’s chat: Use the chat & QA features to submit
comments & questions at any time
• Check your inbox: We’ll share an on-demand
recording & the slide deck in a follow-up email.
• One ask: 15-second feedback survey
• See you again soon?
3

4. 4
• Founded in Markham, Ontario in 2007 🇨🇦
• Dedicated solution provider of public meeting management
software
• Purpose-built for clerks, city administrators, and city/town
managers across North America
Our Goals
• Streamlined meeting preparation
• Better-run municipal and public meetings
• Improved accessibility and engagement for communities &
stakeholders

5. 5
There are 3 types of meetings…
• The meeting you prepared for
• The meeting you had
• The meeting you wished you had

6. 6
Today’s Guests
Michelle Casavecchia-Somers
DPA, CMO, AOMC
Principal
CAO/Clerk: Township of Malahide
Michelle Smibert
MPA, CMO, AOMC
Principal
Deputy Mayor, Thames Centre
CAO/Clerk: Town of Tillsonburg

7. 7
clerksoncall.ca
519-281-1808
contact@clerksoncall.ca
- Training, Consulting & Coaching for Clerks
- Workshops & Online Courses
- Effective Board Chair
- Orientation
- Minute Taking
- Parliamentary Procedure
- Board Orientation Development and Training
- Bylaw Preparation and Review
- Council Orientation Training

8. Presentation Topic 8

9. I was born in a small town…
9
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Under 10,000 10,000 - 50,000 50,000 - 100,000 Over 100,000
How many residents in your community?
Reflecting population distribution among communities in North
America, most clerks serve communities of fewer than 10,000 residents.

10. 10
22
147
95
243
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Less than one year 1-5 years 6-10 years More than 10 years
How long have you served as a clerk?

11. Public meetings per year
11
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Less than 12
12 - 20
20 - 50
50 - 80
50 - 80
80 - 100
More than 100
Under 10K 10-50K 50-100K 100+K

12. 0 50 100 150 200 250
Less than 5
5 - 10
10 - 20
20 - 30
More than 30
Under 10K 10-50K 50-100K 100K or more
12
How many hours of meeting prep per week?

13. 13
Public Engagement in Meetings
Do you feel that the public is well engaged with local government in
your municipality?
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Yes No
45%
55% 55%

14. 14
Public Engagement in Meetings
Do you feel that the public is well engaged with local government in
your municipality?
45%
55%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Under 10K 10-50K 50-10K Over 100K
Yes No

15. As a clerk, what trends are you noticing
in public meetings?
15
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Less Meetings
More Resolutions
Too Many Meetings
No Quorum
Higher Virtual Attendance/ Engagement
Technology Need/ Better Technology / Online…
Lack of Understanding from Public and or Distrust
Time ( Speakng too long, equal time, Too Many…
Council Tension/ Unprepared / No Decision
Less Structure
More Public Participation
Less Public Participation
Hostility

16. As a clerk, what trends are you noticing
in public meetings?
16
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
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Under 10K 10-50K 50-100K Over 100K

17. What is the biggest challenge clerks face
today?
17
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Time Management
Historical Data / Record Managmemt / Timely Publication
Council Members
Compiling/ Creating Minutes / Agenda Management
Clerk Bandwidth and Understanding
Technology
Late Additions/ Last Minute Changes
N/A
Department Collaboration
Citizen Engagement
Efficiency and Effectiveness
Resistent to Change / Stake Holder Buy In
Hostility
Public Misconceptions
Voting / Approvals
Budget
Digital Transformation
Laws
Increaing Need for Transparency
Age
Staff Turnover
Budget

18. 18
Do you feel that too much time goes
into preparing for public meetings?
All
Yes No
Yes
41%
No
59%

19. Does time spent preparing for public meetings make it
difficult to give sufficient attention to the other
responsibilities of the Clerk?
19
Yes No
No
47%
Yes
53%

20. Improvements for
More Effective Public Meetings
20
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Last-minute changes
Document management and workflow
Technology dificulties
Agenda creation/management
Inefficient processes
Turnaround time for approvals
Speaker requests
Minutes drafting/approval takes too long
Real-time bill/legislation mark-up and amendments
Other
Vote collection/management
What factors would you improve for increased public meeting
effectiveness?