“Shall the person holding the office of Town Clerk in the Town of Superior be appointed by the Town Board?” : On the 2023 Spring Election ballot for Town of Superior will be binding referendum question that reads as follows: “Shall the person holding the office of Town Clerk in the Town of Superior be appointed by the Town Board?”  A note from Cindy Theien (Town Treasurer) and Carolyn Jones (Town Clerk):  We believe the Town Clerk position should be appointed as the role of the Town Clerk has changed significantly over the years.  The responsibilities have become more complicated and require personnel who have the skillset to complete the tasks required of the position. Tasks include statutory responsibilities, all aspects of the elections process including training of elections inspectors, working closely with Douglas County Clerk, meeting all election deadlines, record keeping driven by State and Federal mandates, Board of Review, Town Hall coordinator, budget preparer, website coordinator, garbage and recycling coordinator, Board Minutes, required meeting postings, special projects coordinator (i.e., FEMA reporting), etc.  All these duties require a high level of computer skills that include Excel, Word, QuickBooks, etc.  An appointed Town Clerk would allow the Town Board to set qualification requirements, whereas an elected Town Clerk, experience and skills are unknown and have absolutely NO skill requirements to be nominated or elected.  Recently, WTA statistics show that nearly 30% of WI towns have gone to appointed Town Clerks.  In January, the Town Board passed an ordinance approving the conversion of the town clerk position from elected official to Town Board appointed.  With this approval, it allows the question to be placed on the Spring ballot.  We ask for town residents to support this and vote YES.    

Weather in Superior

No forecast data

Posted on by Carolyn Jones

Ordinance 2023-01 Approving Conversion of Town Clerk Position From Elected to Appointed

ORDINANCE NO. 2023-01

 

TOWN OF SUPERIOR

DOUGLAS COUNTY, WISCONSIN

ORDINANCE APPROVING CONVERSION OF TOWN CLERK POSITION FROM ELECTED OFFICIAL TO

TOWN BOARD APPOINTED OFFICE

 

The Town Board of the Town of Superior, Douglas County, Wisconsin, does hereby ordain as follows:

 

That, pursuant to Wis. Stat. §60.30(1e)(a), the office of the town clerk shall be filled by appointment of a majority of the members-elect of the town board.

 

The term of office for the appointed position shall be set by the town board, but may not exceed 3 years per §60.30(1e)(c). The town board may re-appoint the officer for additional terms. However, removal by the town board during a given term of office may only be for “cause” as defined under § 17.001 and required by §60.30(1e)(f).

 

This ordinance is subject to approval by the town electors in a referendum, which is hereby called by the Town Board to be held on April 4, 2023. The referendum question(s) shall be:

 

“Shall the person holding the office of town clerk in the Town of Superior be appointed by the town board?”

 

The salary of the appointed position shall be set by the town board and may not be reduced during the term of office.

 

This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its town board passage, notice after passage per § 60.80 and also its referendum approval by the town electors as required by § 60.30(1e)(b).

 

Adopted this 11th day of January, 2023.

 

 

                                                                                ______                                                                               

Chair

                                                                               

                                                                                ______                                                                               

Supervisor

 

                                                                                                                                                                                               

Supervisor

                                                                                               

                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                ___________                                   

Town Clerk