Does an elected City Clerk have any voting or veto power?
No. Only the five elected City Councilmembers cast votes and make decisions on City business. The Clerk’s position, as its title indicates, is clerical in nature. How do other cities handle the position? In Orange County, 25 City Clerks are appointed, and only eight are elected. A survey of 55 California cities with populations in excess of 100,000 shows 38 have appointed Clerks and 17 have elected Clerks~ According to the League of California Cities, approximately 30 percent of City Clerks throughout the state are elected; the rest are appointed. Is there an advantage to having an appointed City Clerk? An appointed City Clerk would be selected based on education, management experience, professional licenses, and continuing professional education. The most recent City Clerk had more than 30 years of clerical and managerial experience as an appointed employee in the Clerk’s Office before she ran for election. In addition, an appointed City Clerk would not have to be a resident of the Ci
