The purpose of this classification is to provide a variety of administrative services for the City’s elected officials and providing assistance to all city departments by attending meetings of the City Council, serving as custodian of municipal records and administering all municipal elections.
- Prepares meeting agendas and packets for City Council and Board meetings; attends City Council meetings; records and transcribes meeting minutes; distributes all documentation as appropriate; compiles Council minute books for vault.
- Prepares and submits advertisements for public hearings and ordinances.
- Establishes and maintains records in City Clerk’s office; creates and maintains permanent paper copies of vault files and records as required by law; scans records and documents for permanent records; researches records as needed; maintains Ordinance and Resolution Reference Book; composes, calculates yardage, and types requests for record destruction as required by law.
- Researches issues to include laws adopted by City Council, motions made by City Council, and legal information regarding litigation and city contracts.
- Provides customer service; answers telephone and greets visitors; provides information and assistance regarding City departments, services, meetings, events, procedures, or other issues; directs callers/visitors to appropriate personnel, and records/relays messages; responds to questions/complaints, researches problems, and initiates problem resolution.
- Assists citizens and acts as a liaison between citizens and City Council.
- Attends all City Council meetings; supervises the preparation of the council chambers in order to accommodate the City Council and the public; informs the public of meetings and hearings by various means, in compliance with state law; arranges and prepares the business to be considered by the City Council according to its established agenda and distributes same to City officials and the media; Prepares a record of the proceedings of all official meetings in the form of minutes and distributes same; presents minutes of meetings for City Council approval.
- Serves as Chief Election Official during all regular and special municipal elections; works in conjunction with the City attorney, elected officials and the U.S. Justice department to establish districts for municipal elections; requests the adoption of a resolution calling for various municipal elections and publishes notice of same; administers oaths to candidates upon verification of qualification (in applicable elections); advises candidates on documents to be filed with the state ethics commission as required by law and advises candidates of other legal obligations.
- Orders ballots to be printed and placed in voting machines and ensures all machines are in legal working order; supervises the issuance of absentee ballots; chooses, appoints, administers election schools to educate election officials, administers oaths to election officials, and publishes listing of same.
- Advises election officials on solutions to problems during polling hours; receives returns from polling officials, canvasses votes, and reports results to elected officials, the public and the media; prepares resolution for adoption by the City Council to confirm election results and prepares certificates of election to be awarded to successful candidates.
- Deals with various aspects of a contested election; deals with the public and media in answering questions and/or explaining issues to be voted upon; works with elected officials in the organization of the new Council.
- Oversees the Industrial Development Board and performs duties such as attending meetings and taking minutes; organizing meeting agendas; drafting IDB correspondence; providing notices and reminders to all members and liaisons to regional support organizations; creating promotional brochures and materials; and performing research work. Communicates with the Council and citizens of the various projects, events, and relationship building efforts of the IDB.
- Prepares for consideration all ordinances and resolutions proposed for introduction or awaiting final action, public notices, legal notices, proclamations, and other official documents; oversees the storing, retrieval and public access of municipal records and legal documents. Reviews or develops contracts and agreements for City Council consideration and approval. Directs the compilation, revision, and publication of City of Daphne municipal codes.
- Prepares and maintains lists of all boards, committees, authorities, and monitors time for appointments or adjustments to be made. Notifies the Webmaster of new appointments or re-appointments to be added to the City’s website.
- Maintains list of elected officials subject to the state Ethics Law and submits list to the Ethics Commission. Coordinates the timely filing of all forms required of the Ethics Commission for each City Council member.
- Supervises, directs, and evaluates assigned staff, processing employee concerns and problems, directing work, counseling, disciplining, and completing employee performance appraisals.
- Serves as a contact person in providing information to the public regarding City government; responds to inquiries or comments from the public via telephone, e-mail, or mail; answers general questions, or refers questions to appropriate individual/department; consults with City Council to review operations/activities, review/resolve problems, and receive advice/direction. Receive and process requests for documents, event applications, and facility use applications.
- Receives litigation filings against the City; creates and maintains related files; provides notification to City insurance company and City Attorney of pending litigation; assists in providing related information.
- Provides administrative support to the Mayor and Council by answering telephones, screening calls, taking messages, scheduling meetings and conferences, making travel arrangements, and typing correspondence.
- Researches grants and/or prepares grant applications for funding of City programs or projects; assists in ensuring compliance with requirements of grants.
- Oversees usage of council chambers and develops council chamber calendar on monthly basis.
- Maintains the City calendar.
- Provides assistance to the news media and may draft press releases.
- Composes and types memoranda, correspondence, agendas, minutes, permits, reports, policy statements, statistical tables, and other materials using word processing and spreadsheet software on personal computer.
- Assists in preparing the department’s budget; monitors expenditures for compliance with approved budget.
- Attends conferences and meetings to maintain knowledge of laws, policies and practices in local government administration, city clerk and municipal elections functions. Serves as City representative at Alabama League of Municipalities and National League of Cities conferences and meetings, and other community events.
- Uses telephone, transcription equipment, computer, calculator, copier, postage meter, facsimile, and other office equipment and tools in performing assigned job duties.
- Establishes and maintains office files and records; opens, sorts and distributes mail; prepares mail-outs and performs other clerical duties.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Knowledge of basic arithmetic operations.
- Knowledge of the City of Daphne.
- Skill in operating, maneuvering and/or controlling the actions of equipment, machinery, tools, and/or materials used in performing essential functions.
- Ability to evaluate, audit, deduce, and/or assess data using established criteria. Includes exercising discretion in determining actual or probable consequences and in referencing such evaluation to identify and select alternatives.
- Ability to function in a managerial capacity for a division or organizational unit. Includes the ability to make decisions on procedural and technical levels.
- Ability to utilize a wide variety of reference, descriptive, and/or advisory data and information.
- Ability to calculate decimals and percentages; ability to utilize principles of fractions; ability to interpret graphs.
- Ability to apply principles of influence systems, such as motivation, incentive, and leadership, and to exercise independent judgment to apply facts and principles for developing approaches and techniques to resolve problems.
- Ability to exercise judgment, decisiveness and creativity in situations involving the evaluation of information against sensory, judgmental, or subjective criteria, as opposed to that which is clearly measurable or verifiable.
Education and Experience: Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Public Relations or related field preferred; supplemented by three (3) years previous experience and/or training that includes public relations, administrative or office management experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience which provides the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities for this job.
Licenses or Certifications: Valid State of Alabama driver’s license; valid State of Alabama Notary Public certification; Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) within first three (3) years of employment.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work is sedentary work which requires exerting up to 10 pounds of force. Work requires the ability to exert light physical effort which may involve some lifting, carrying, pushing and/or pulling of objects and materials of light weight. Tasks may involve extended periods of time at a keyboard or work station. Some tasks require the ability to perceive and discriminate colors or shades of colors, sounds, and visual cues or signals. Some tasks require the ability to communicate orally.
WORK ENVIRONMENT: Work is performed in an office environment. Essential functions are regularly performed without exposure to adverse environmental conditions.