City recognizes Municipal Clerks Week
Published 9:17 am Friday, May 10, 2019
- Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner, second from left, reads a proclamation naming the week of May 6 as Municipal Clerks Week in Winchester. Flanking Burtner are, from left, city commissioners Ramsey Flynn and Kitty Strode, Burtner, City Clerk Joy Curtis, Deputy City Clerk Dianna Layne, and city commissioners JoEllen Reed and Shannon Cox. (Photo by Fred Petke)
A proclamation issued by Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner April 16, recognized the week of May 5-11 as the 50th anniversary of Municipal Clerks Week.
Unanimously adopted by the City of Winchester Board of Commissioners, the proclamation extends appreciation to all municipal and deputy clerks for the services which they provide their communities. Specifically, the proclamation cites the clerk “serves as the professional link between the citizens, the local governing bodies and agencies of government at other levels.”
The proclamation was presented to Joy Curtis, city clerk, and Dianna Layne, deputy city clerk, and signed by Burtner.
It also honors municipal and deputy clerks for “continually striving to improve the administration of their duties through participation in education programs, seminars, workshops and annual meetings of their state, province, county and international professional organizations.”
The International Institute of Municipal Clerks, a professional association of city, town, township, village, borough, deputy and county clerks, sponsors Municipal Clerks Week.
IIMC President Stephanie Carouthers Kelly, MMC, and city clerk for the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, urges municipal and deputy clerks to highlight the importance of their roles and functions and the impact the municipal clerk’s office has on the public.
“There are many responsibilities of the municipal and deputy clerk that the public takes for granted, such as keeping the council advised of legislation that affects them,” Kelly said. “Yet, if clerks are inattentive in their duties, then the efficient operation of our local government is greatly affected.
“The functions of the clerk necessitate a thorough knowledge of law procedure, administration and interpersonal relations. To keep up with the consistent transformation in local government, many clerks participate in continuing education and seminars and attending Clerk Institutes.”
Curtis and Layne are both members of IIMC. Joy has worked for the City of Winchester since 1999. Layne has served as the City of Winchester Deputy City Clerk since May 14, 2018.
