Mission Statement of the City Clerk

To effectively communicate with and act as a liaison between citizens of the community, elected officials, and City staff.

Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday
 

Description of Office

Perform the functions of a municipal clerk including knowledge of State Statute requirements for first class cities; good management and supervisory skills; general knowledge of investment practice; writing and composition skills to ensure proper preparation of proceedings of all meetings, as well as oral and written communication skills; and maintain and preserve all vital city documents. Under direction of the Finance Officer, maintains official records of the City, assists in finance-related activities, and has supervision of clerical staff.

Services

• Provide billing and collection of accounts receivable and all occupation taxes for the City

• Issue all licenses and permits

• Preserve and microfilm all official records

• Coordinate retention and disposition of all official records

• Prepare agenda packets for City Council meetings

• Process and secure the execution of all action items on City Council agendas

• Prepare and maintain official minutes of meetings

• Publish legal notices

• Ensure all City ordinances are published in the Official City Code

• Supervise daily deposits of City funds

• Monitor cash flow and invest all City funds

• Maintain About Norfolk, Administration, and Finance web sites

A Bit of History

The office of clerk can be traced to biblical times and even before making the municipal clerk position, along with the tax collector, one of the oldest public offices. 

The city clerk's office could be described as the front office "of city government." It could be said that no other office in the municipality has as many contacts as this office. The office serves the mayor, the city administrator, the council, and all departments and divisions. All of them call upon it almost daily for some type of service or information. The clerk is also sometimes described as the secretary for the city and is a continual source of information for the public. The office of the city clerk is where the seal is kept; where oaths of office to public servants are filed; where all official documents and city records, both historical and current, are kept on file.

The work of the city clerk is not spectacular but it demands versatility, alertness, accuracy, and patience.

"Don't mind criticism - if it is untrue, disregard it; if it is unfair, don't let it irritate you; if it is ignorant, smile; and if it is justified, learn from it. People with weak arguments have to develop strong voices, while others get lost in thought because it is such unfamiliar territory to them. It is difficult to believe someone can differ from us and be right, but it happens."

Examples of Work

Supervises one administrative secretary and one account clerk III; attends all meetings of the City Council, including regular, special, emergency, work sessions, and budget sessions; assures that all meetings are properly advertised; records and prepares all written procedures; sign, seal, and supervise processing of all official City documents; attend to all matters pertaining to sound record management practices, this includes a schedule for microfilming, maintaining storage areas, and inventory for active and inactive records; maintenance of an off-site storage area for certain permanent records as a precaution in the event of a disaster; update and maintain information on the Administration, About Norfolk and Finance web sites; permanent member of the Safety Committee attending all meetings and work on special projects as assigned; investment of City monies, entailing the monitoring of cash flow, receiving bids, and completing settlement activity as transaction necessitates; monitor pledging of City funds; maintenance of investment maturity records; monitors bank analysis statements received from depository bank; deposit City monies daily and/or assigns to other staff; monitor the proper posting of cash receipts and online credit card payments; billing of all City accounts with the exception of water and sewer including reconciliation of monthly Transfer Station and NNSWC accounts and billing customers; monitor and take steps to collect past-due accounts when necessary; submits ambulance bills to Medicare, RR Medicare and Medicaid and supplies information to insurance companies, upon request, for payment of bills; update and maintain property and customer databases; ensure that the City has on file all current disclosure statements from elected and appointed officials as well as department and division heads; ensure that ledgers of those officials having accounts with the City are maintained; complete special projects as assigned; prepare and maintain manuals - records management, customer service, municipal clerk's; complete surveys as requested.

Perform Miscellaneous Items, i.e. write newsletter articles for City employee newsletter as well as quarterly City newsletter; research records for request of information on request; respond to telephone inquiries; maintain public official bonds; keep BID information current; ensure that the City is properly collecting fees for all permits issued, such as auctioneer, second hand, dance, tobacco, handicap, etc.; monitors codification of all City ordinances online in the Official City Code; order quarterly NE Liquor Commission newsletter for city clerk, city administrator, city attorney, and police chief; monitor cost of all publications and filing and recording fees ensuring proper billing for reimbursement to City for said costs; sign manual checks; maintain log of signer and check numbers.