On March 15, Mundelein voters will be asked again if the village clerk should be an appointed position or remain an elected office.



The referendum was first on the ballot in April 2013, but failed by 234 votes.



Mayor Steve Lentz said he suspects it was confusing for voters to be asked if the clerk’s position should be appointed the same time they were being asked to elect a new clerk. It was also unclear that the appointment wouldn’t be made until the elected clerk’s four-year term expired in 2017.



“For clarity's sake, the question really should be determined on a ballot outside that of a clerk's election,” Lentz said.



In November, the Mundelein Village Board unanimously decided the March primary was the right time to ask the question again.



Of the 52 municipalities in Lake County, 19 have clerks who are appointed rather than elected. They include: Antioch, Barrington Hills, Deer Park, Deerfield, Fox River Grove, Green Oaks, Hainesville, Hawthorn Woods, Highland Park, Kildeer, Lake Barrington, Lake Forest, Lakemoor, Mettawa, North Barrington, Third Lake, Tower Lakes, Vernon Hills and Zion.



Mundelein’s clerk has always been elected. For years, the position was full-time, much like a department head, and included staff and a salary greater than that of the mayor. The position was reduced to part-time in 2005 and now pays the same as trustee.



The clerk, which is an independently elected official, makes no executive decisions and has no voting authority.



Katy Timmerman has been village clerk since 2013. She said her duties include attending all board meetings; recording meeting minutes; maintaining the archives of village documents and records; managing the electoral process; attesting to the mayor’s signature on legal documents; and administering the oath of office to newly appointed village officials, employees and commissioners.



Though there are no professional qualifications required to serve as clerk, Timmerman said the duties do require someone who is discreet, trustworthy and detail-oriented, has excellent writing skills and the ability to meet deadlines and work within a highly structured organization.



Greater efficiency and accountability



Because the job of clerk is mostly administrative, Timmerman, who has no plans to seek re-election in April 2017, said she doesn’t believe the position merits going through an electoral process to fill it. She also noted staff has been performing many of the duties since the position became part-time.



“It makes sense to increase efficiency and consistency by making this change,” Timmerman said of making the position appointed rather than elected.



Lentz agreed.



“The appointment would be with the board's approval,” he said. “Typically, with other villages that have this, the village administrator is appointed and the tasks get done under his or her direction. This way, those tasks get done more efficiently under someone already accountable to the public via the board of trustees and mayor.”



Another reason to have the clerk be appointed is because as an independently elected official, there is no accountability, Assistant Village Administrator Mike Flynn said. “The [elected] clerk is their own boss. They don’t even have to show up for the meetings.”



Technically, Trustee Ray Semple said, “The clerk answers to no staff or elected official, and if the clerk is on vacation or unavailable for any reason, the work must be done, and does get done by staff in order to meet the mandated posting deadlines.”



“When it is election time, there are numerous tasks that need to be handled in a timely manner and deserve someone’s attention during normal business hours. By having village staff handle the duties of the clerk, we would be assured of having someone available during normal business hours,” Semple added.



If the referendum fails, Flynn said he doubts the village will put the question on the ballot for a third time.



“There are plenty of municipalities where the position is elected and the clerk serves admirably. [But] it just makes sense procedurally,” Semple said of appointing the clerk.