New clerks
You were appointed on Tuesday. The meeting is Thursday.
Most Clearwater clerks arrive without a handover. This is the order to do things in, written by people who did it in the wrong order first.
The first two weeks
1. Find out whether you are the records officer
Chapter 44 requires the municipality to appoint a certified records officer. Very often it is you and nobody said so. Check the appointing resolution. If the post is vacant, tell the administrator this week — not because it is urgent to you, but because it is a statutory duty currently unmet.
2. Get the meeting out safely
Notice 48 hours ahead under Chapter 38, agenda posted, minutes taken. Minutes do not need to be good in your first month; they need to exist and be accurate. Record the vote, the motion and who moved it.
3. Find the retention schedule
Your municipality has a local schedule somewhere, probably out of date. Find it, date it, and do not throw anything away until you have.
4. Answer the phone honestly
“I have been in this job eleven days and I want to get this right — can I call you back this afternoon?” is a complete and professional answer. Guessing is not.
The first 90 days
5. Meet your district
Twelve districts, each with a director, each meeting at least twice a year. Your district is the fastest route to somebody who has already had your week.
6. Start the CCRO
Sixty education points, roughly three years part-time. Nobody expects you to finish quickly. Starting early matters because the appointment clock in some municipalities is three years.
7. Work out what the election year looks like
If there is an election in your first year, build the calendar backwards from election day now.
8. Write down what nobody told you
Where the keys are. Which drawer the liquor licences live in. The password to the sign. You are the only person who will ever know how little you were given, and the next clerk deserves better.
Things new clerks ask in the first month
All of these have come to the office more than once.
Somebody asked for "all emails about the park" and I do not know where to start.
We forgot to post the agenda 48 hours ahead. What do we do now?
There are forty boxes in the basement and nobody knows what is in them.
I am the election official? Since when?
Is the CCRO the same as my annual recertification?
Is it normal to be the clerk, the treasurer and the licensing desk?
The answer to the last one is yes.
In a town of 1,200 it is the job. That is why the association exists, and why the mentorship programme pairs every new clerk who asks with someone who has done it for a decade.