October 2019 WMCA E-Newsletter

Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association
Monthly Newsletter

VISIONS:  The start of my Presidency has been busy, just the way I envisioned it.  First, I sent out an Introductory Letter to organizations and individuals that we communicate with.  I offered my services to continue keeping lines of communication open and that I was willing to chat with them about our association, our mission and educational opportunities.  My letter generated outreach and so far I have had conversations with the Presidents of MTAW and MCFOA, and the County Clerks from Waukesha, Winnebago & Adams with more outreach to come.

Within the first two – three weeks I called all WMCA Committee Chairs to discuss the visions they have for their Committee over the next year and I am glad to report work has already begun.  Some Chairs have held their first Committee meeting (Ad-Hoc Multi-Media, Manuals and Finance.)  Please join me in thanking all Committee Chairs and Members for their willingness to serve and for their fast start on identifying and achieving goals.

My travels have taken me to a District #1 & #2 Meeting in the City of Rice Lake, a WMCA Finance Committee Meeting in the Village of Portage, a District #5 Meeting in the City of Pewaukee, a LCAC Committee Meeting in the Town of Waukesha, an IMFOA Conference in Des Moines Iowa and a meeting in the City of Brookfield (Brookfield Square area) to look at a new conference center for potential future WMCA Conferences.

VICTORIES:  Your WMCA Ad-Hoc Multi-Media Committee has achieved two victories already, which you may have seen via email, and on the WMCA Website and WMCA Facebook page as “Red Hot Alerts.”  These posts notify you of new offerings for the membership and can be found under the WMCA News section on the homepage.  Some documents will need to be accessed through the Member Log In area and all documents will be drafted into a template format (Word or Excel) which can be customized to fit your needs.  Currently, there are templates for the 2020 Census and the next offering we are working on is an Election Contingency Plan.  We will also be putting out important information from other agencies and information that you can share with your community.  So far those offerings are from the DOR – two revised alcohol licensing applications and information on Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

INTERESTING FACTS THAT HAPPENED IN 1919: 

• The 1st municipally owned airport opened in Tucson, Az.
• The US Labor Conference Committee urges an 8-hour work day and 48-hour week (so now we know who’s idea this was!)
• Americans drove Model T's to see silent movies and dealt with new-fangled inventions such as toasters and zippers.
• President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke in October that debilitated him for the rest of his life.
• The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified, authorizing Prohibition, even against President Wilson’s veto.
• The US, Germany, Luxembourg and Netherlands gave women the right to vote.
• The 19^th Amendment to legalize women’s suffrage was passed.
• American-born Nancy Astor became the first woman elected and sworn in to the British House of Commons.
• The first state tax on gasoline went into effect in Oregon - one cent per gallon.
• The League of Nations was established in order to resolve international disputes.
• Britain observed the first Remembrance Day in honor of those who lost their lives during World War I.
• The Cincinnati Reds beat the White Sox in the World Series because the Sox threw the game.
• The Treaty of Versailles brought an end to World War I.
• The HMY Lolaire sank off the coast of Scotland (Stornoway Harbour) resulting in the deaths of 201 sailors returning from war.
• Strange Disaster - A steel tanker carrying 2.3 million gallons of molasses exploded and swept through Boston killing 21 and injuring 150 people.
• A fire caused New Orleans’ landmark, the French Opera House, to burn down.
• The U.S. sent a seaplane piloted by Albert Cushing Read on the first flight (23 days) across the Atlantic Ocean, flying from Long Island to England.

The list is filled with so many visions and victories and if you really think about them, you can see how they each helped shape the future.

Wishing all Professional Clerk staff, a Happy Fall Season, safe travels and that you can take some time to enjoy all the beautiful fall colors.

Diane Coenen WCMC/CMC
2019-2020 WMCA President

IMPORTANT UPDATE FROM YOUR WMCA LEGISLATIVE COMMUNICATIONS & ADVOCACY COMMITTEE (LCAC)

A Bill (LRB-2970/2) has been introduced as an alternative to AB 203 (AVEO) and your LCAC has been working all morning to draft a response to all our State Senators and Assembly Representatives.  You are receiving this communication to make you aware that AVEO (AB 203) was not pulled up by the Assembly Majority Leadership when they met last week for a vote, and because you may receive calls from your legislators asking you questions and to weigh in on either Bill.  An important item to remember is that AVEO is not mandatory – it’s optional. 
Click here to read Bill LRB-2970/2.
Click here to read the LCAC Response.
Click here to read the concerns raised by the LCAC members, which were used to draft the response.

AB-203 is supported by your WMCA as an optional solution for municipalities.  Professional Municipal Clerks are responsible for Election Administration and are the experts when it comes to knowing our duties and responsibilities.   Allowing others to speak as an expert or authority on our professional responsibilities as election administrators is not right.   Activists have no on the job experience to write our narrative.  We must provide our own accurate narrative (Click here).   Please take action now by reaching out.  Knowledge is the key and if we persist in providing accurate information to all non-supporters and supporters alike, we can achieve victory! 
Thank you, President Coenen

U.S. Census Bureau Continues to Hire in Wisconsin for 2020 Census

The U.S. Census Bureau continues to recruit thousands of workers for temporary jobs available nationwide – including numerous positions in Wisconsin -- in preparation for the 2020 Census.

The 2020 Census Jobs website allows applicants to apply for a range of positions, including recruiting assistants, office operations supervisors, clerks, census field supervisors and census takers, by completing a single application online. Opportunities are available throughout Wisconsin, and offer flexible work hours, including daytime, evenings and weekends.

While the Census Bureau is recruiting statewide, there are a lot of needs in rural Wisconsin, as well as for people with special language skills, including Spanish, Hmong and other languages. Applicants can be under 18 to apply but must be 18 by the time they start work.

Available jobs include:
Recruiting assistants travel throughout geographic areas to visit with community-based organizations, attend promotional events and conduct other recruiting activities.
Office operations supervisors assist in the management of office functions and day-to-day activities in one or more functional areas, including payroll, personnel, recruiting, field operations and support.
Clerks perform various administrative and clerical tasks to support various functional areas, including payroll, personnel, recruiting, field operations and support.
Census field supervisors conduct fieldwork to support and conduct on-the-job training for census takers, and/or to follow-up in situations where census takers have confronted issues such as not gaining entry to restricted areas.
Census takers work in the field. Some field positions require employees to work during the day to see addresses on buildings. Other field positions require interviewing the public, so employees must be available to work when people are usually at home such as in the evening and on weekends.

Applicants are placed in an applicant pool for 2020 Census field positions and are considered as positions become available. Applications will remain active and updatable throughout the 2020 Census recruiting and hiring period. For more information, contact 1-855-JOB-2020 (1-855-562-2020) and select option three. Applicants may also contact the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. For more information, please visit the 2020 Census Jobs page (2020census.gov/jobs), USAjobs.gov, or the Census Bureau’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.

Dan Green, CMC - Town Clerk - Town of Lisbon, WI

The Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) is one of the two professional designations granted by IIMC and is designed to enhance the job performance of the Clerk in small and large municipalities. To earn the CMC designation, a Municipal Clerk must attend extensive education programs often totaling more than 120 educational hours.

Angie M. Cain, MMC - Town Clerk - Town of Grand Chute, WI

Kelly S. Michaels, MMC - City Clerk - City of Brookfield, WI

To qualify for the MMC Designation, one must first earn the Certified Municipal Clerk Designation (CMC) as well commit to life-long learning by attending extensive advanced education programs and making significant professional contributions to the community and municipality in which they serve. Those that achieve the MMC Designation have demonstrated that they have actively pursued educational and professional activities and have remained informed of current socio-political, cultural, and economic issues that affect local governments and municipalities in today’s day of age.

October 23-25
KI Center, Green Bay

Workshops include: Bus Tour: Northern Renewal - Tour of Green Bay and Ashwaubenon, Deep Dive Human Resources 101, Mini Bar: A New Round of FUNdamentals for Municipal Attorneys, Innovative Housing Solutions, Running an Effective Meeting (Mock Meeting), EPW Track: Engineering & Public Works Roundtable, Practical Strategies for Dealing with More Frequent Severe Rain and Flooding Events, Municipal Collaboration & Relationship-Building, Working with and Utilizing Your Municipal Attorney, Small Community Roundtable, Levy Limit Strategies, Building a Strong System of Internal Controls to Prevent Fraud, Rethinking Special Assessments: New Ways to Pay for Street Improvements, Large Community Roundtable, Not with My Tax Dollars! Ethics of Budgeting, How Not to Be an Ethics Case Study, Legislative Update, Liquor Licensing (Implementation, Authority), Current Issues in Land Use Regulation, Public Records, TIF: The "But For" Test - Prove It!, EPW Track: The Importance of Sanitary Sewer Management, EPW Track: Stormwater Mitigation Utilizing Suspended Pavement, EPW Track: Compact Roundabouts/ EVP’s/ Traffic Calming Ideas, EPW Track: Rethinking GIS – Informed Planning, Deeper Insights, Panel: Inclusivity in Small and Large Communities, Make Your Community a Recreation Destination, Panel: Downtown Redevelopment, Municipality Utility Oversight: Governing Body Options and Responsibilities, Lessons Learned about Phosphorous Compliance Options, EPW Track: Engineering Ethics

More information and registration here.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) recently approved a $1.1 million grant program which aims to strengthen municipal election security through federal funding of updated operating systems and computers. This funding will help ensure all municipalities are meeting baseline security compliance when performing tasks critical to Wisconsin elections. WEC recently announced KerberRose Technology as a Preferred Vendor, to provide Information Technology Consulting and Managed Services to municipalities. KerberRose Technology looks forward to being a trusted advisor to your local municipality by providing secure and skilled technology services as election season approaches. Contact KerberRose Technology at (715) 525-9400 or by visiting http://kerberrose.com/services/kerberrose-technology/ for a complimentary consultation on updating election security.

Issue #9  
October 2019

In This Issue

• President's Letter
• Update from LCAC
• 2020 Census
• IIMC Certifications
• League Conference
• Kerber Rose News
• Education Opportunities
• Scam Alert
  

Over the last few days, several WMCA members have received emails that appear to be from the WMCA President Diane Coenen asking for the member to purchase gift cards for her.

This email is a scam - if you hover over the email address, you will see it is not from the President's work email address.  Just delete it. 

Always check the email address an email message is coming from to make sure it is from someone you know.  When in doubt - Delete it!

About Us

THE WMCA MISSION:
To be the premier source for the personal empowerment of municipal clerks in Wisconsin through education, professional development, and the promotion of excellence.

Check Out Our Website at:
www.wisclerks.org