Inside This Issue
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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.
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President's Message
to the
Members
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Fall is upon us!! It has been a busy, busy month already!
On September 6th, the City of Amery Council approved hiring me as a Deputy City Clerk/Treasurer and after returning from a mission/vacation trip, I started my first day there on September 20th. Thank you Fran Duncanson for this awesome opportunity! It’s an amazing experience to work with someone whom I have always admired for her knowledge, strength and love of being a Clerk/Treasurer. I will still be using my new email address of bgoeckner@outlook.com and my cell phone of 262-957-6434, should you wish to reach out to me.
Wisconsin Election Commission Report
On September 27th, I attended the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) meeting in Madison. There were several items discussed that will affect us all in the coming election year and beyond.
WEC voted to decertify the Optech Eagle as of December 31, 2018. Please be sure to check the Clerk Communication page on WEC’s website for the details related to this, at this link: http://elections.wi.gov/node/5272
Election cost reporting will be discontinued for elections moving forward, after discussion from the Commission. There is a Clerk Communication memo located here http://elections.wi.gov/node/5290, regarding this.
The Commission also discussed the attempted hacking of voter information by Russia. This attempt was unsuccessful in getting any voter information. Wisconsin’s systems are secure and were not breached in any way.
There was a great deal of discussion regarding the WEC staffing cuts which occurred through the Governor’s line item veto. WEC had already reduced staff. Then the Governor’s line item VETO cut an additional 5 staff members from the budget. Some of those positions had previously been supported by Federal HAVA funding. Please write letters to your representatives and express the crucial need for WEC staff to retain the remaining 26 positions and the possibility to need further positions as well in 2018. Everything we do for administering Elections is directly affected by the staffing levels at WEC. Without the necessary trained staff, it is likely we will have difficulty getting the help with our much-needed answers as quickly as we have in the past. Also, we are likely to experience further difficulties in preparing properly and timely for the elections with the large amount of behind the scenes work that is necessary. Please get letters out as soon as possible.
Please check the Clerk’s Communication page frequently to keep up on all notices to Clerks by the WEC.
Proposed Election Legislation - AVEO
Thank you to all who took the survey for the AVEO bill early this month. The information was a great way for that group to pass on the results to the State Representative assisting them in the legislation.
District Meetings
Many District meetings are in the works now and in the upcoming month(s). Your District meetings are an excellent opportunity to get the always needed education from the training sessions and networking time with your fellow Clerks. Be sure to attend any and all that you are able to. You’re always welcome to register for any District meeting. it doesn’t have to just be the District in which you work. They’re all available to everyone and this is a great way to meet other Clerks around the state and broaden your opportunities for education.
District 2 held their meeting in New Richmond on October 6th and it was very well attended. I was out of state during that time so couldn’t be there. I hope to attend their District meeting in the spring.
District 1 held their meeting in Minong on October 13th, which I was able to attend. The fall colors in the northern part of the state always look the most beautiful in mid-October! There were presentations from John Gasper on Workhorse software, Janel Lee presented information on Identity theft and Bank Fraud, and MSA-Professions Services gave a presentation on funding sources for municipal projects.
District 5 held their meeting in Oconomowoc at the Olympia Resort on Thursday, October 26th. In the morning Jean Phelps and Rachel Rodriquez, from the Madison City Clerk’s Office, offered a great presentation on absentee voting at residential care facilities and in the afternoon the Wisconsin Election Commission updated the members on what’s new and changing for elections in 2018.
Here are some of the additional District meetings scheduled:
District 3 - Thursday, December 14th in Black River Falls
District 4 – Wednesday, November 8th in Blanchardville
District 6 - Friday, December 1st in Fond du Lac
District 7 – Thursday, November 9th in Waupaca
District 8 - Friday, November 17th in Rhinelander
I’m looking forward to seeing many of you and meeting new Clerks at the District meetings, while I travel around Wisconsin attending as many of them as I can. It’s a beautiful time of year to enjoy all the fall beauty our great state has to offer!
Here’s to a safe and happy Halloween!!
 Barbara K.D. Goeckner WCPC/MMC
2017-18 WMCA President
bgoeckner@outlook.com
(262) 957-6435
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Congratulations to Our New
Certified Members!
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The Certification Committee met on October 10th and the following WMCA members were awarded their WCMC-Wisconsin Certified Municipal Clerk certification! These members deserve our "Applause"!
Brenda Ayers WCMC, Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer, Town of Burke
Marie Baker WCMC, Clerk/Treasurer, Town of Walworth
Shelia Bowers WCMC, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer, Village of Wrightstown
Kathy Burger WCMC, Clerk, Village of Solon Springs
Bridget Givens WCMC, Clerk, City of Chippewa Falls
Daniel Green WCMC, Clerk, City of New Berlin
Megan Gundrum WCMC, Deputy Clerk, City of West Bend
Wendy Helgeson WCMC, Clerk, Town of Greenville
Dawn Krause WCMC, Clerk/Treasurer, Village of Fremont
Danielle Maxwell-Parker WCMC, Clerk/Treasurer, Village of Turtle Lake
Tracy Oldenburg WCMC, Deputy Clerk, City of Fitchburg
Sandee Policello WCMC, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer, City of Waukesha
Jennifer Roloff WCMC, Clerk/Treasurer, Village of Rock Springs
Chaz Schumacher WCMC, Clerk, Village of Pewaukee
Michelle Seidl WCMC, Clerk/Treasurer, Village of Wrightstown
Lorena Stottler WCMC, Clerk/Treasurer, City of Beloit
Becky Tellier WCMC, Clerk/Treasurer, Village of Campbellsport
Cairie Virrueta WCMC, Clerk, City of Elkhorn
Sabrina Waswo WCMC, Clerk, City of Lake Geneva
IIMC has also announced that Judith Taubert has earned her CMC-Certified Municipal Clerk certification. Judith is the Deputy Clerk in the Village of Mukwonago, Congratulations to you Judith!
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Second Broadband Expansion Grant in 2018
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Governor Scott Walker recently announced that the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) will conduct a second Broadband Expansion Grant proceeding in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 to award a portion of the additional funds approved in the recent 2017-19 budget: 7.5 million! The Broadband Expansion Grant Program provides reimbursement for equipment and construction expenses incurred to extend or improve broadband telecommunications service in under served areas of Wisconsin. For those interested in learning more, application materials are posted on our website at:
https://psc.wi.gov/Pages/Programs/BroadbandGrants.aspx.
Grant applications are due January 25, 2018.
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Updates Coming to "The Orange Book"
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Andrew Baraniak, Local Government Records Archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society, is working on an update for the Wisconsin Municipal Records Manual (often referred to as the Orange Book). The WMCA sent an email out to clerks from Andrew with the following information. If you missed the email check out the rest of this article.
Those of you who have heard Andrew speak at various conferences are aware that they have been working on updating the Manual. For those of you who haven’t heard about this project, Andrew will give you a quick summary.
“The Wisconsin Municipal Records Manual was first introduced as a guideline for helping municipalities set ordinances pertaining to the retention and management of public records in 1980. Those of you who have used the manual know that it remained generally unchanged since that time, meaning that an update was due.”
Click on the title for a rough draft of the revision of the Wisconsin Municipal Records Manual.
A couple of notes about the version you will be viewing. Keep in mind that this guideline is still in early draft phase. When you view the spreadsheet, you will see a list of record types located in tabs towards the bottom that are labeled Administrative, Revenue, Finance, Election…and so on. Clicking on those tabs will open the working schedules for records that fall under those particular topics. Under each tab is a schedule for various record series that includes information such as a brief description, retention period, statute authorization, and whether or not to notify the Historical Society before destroying the records.
Remember this is still a draft. You will find inconsistencies within some of the columns, especially in regards to retention and notification. For now we are more concerned with getting feedback regarding the records categories themselves. I’d like to know if you feel that we are covering the majority of records that you create, keeping in mind that this schedule is covering broad record groups not individual items. Please let me know if we have not included any major record series that you create, or alternatively if we included something that is not created any more. I am also looking for general feedback on the schedule itself, so any thoughts would be appreciated.
Some of you may pick up the fact that this version does not include any references to Police/Emergency responder or Local Public Health records. We, along with many others, are aware that there needs to be some scheduling of Police/Responder records and are working together to provide such advice. However, a draft version of such a schedule is not currently ready. There is also state legislation moving forward in regards to police video cameras, so waiting on a schedule seems best until such legislation is finalized. Schedules for public health records were left out because most municipalities are covered by the County Health Department, and do not create their own records. The final version of this update will include information instructing those municipalities who still operate a local health department to schedule their records according to the County General Schedule’s retention of health records.
The Historical Society would like all feedback to be returned to us by Friday, December 1, to allow us time to make any changes and continue forward with our goal of having something new out sometime next year. Comments can be directed to me at andrew.baraniak@wisconsinhistory.org. I’d prefer written replies, but if you would like to chat about something you can also call me at (608) 264-6469. And feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. Thank you again for your time and I am looking forward to hearing your comments.
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