DeKalb backs City Clerk referendum for voters in November

DeKALB – When DeKalb residents head to the polls in November to cast their election ballots, they will be asked whether the city clerk’s office should be appointed rather than elected.

Unanimous council action this week was spurred in the wake of former clerk Sasha Cohen’s departure from the city clerk’s office. Circuit Court Chief Judge Bradley Waller ruled in March that Cohen had abandoned his role after he failed to file statements of economic interest for the past two years. The clerk, who didn’t provide comment during the judicial hearing, had been the center of years of scrutiny from city officials alleging he repeatedly failed to adequately perform the duties voters in 2021 elected him to do.

With his ouster, Cohen gave up his payroll claim, email privilege and any duties assigned by state law or city ordinance to the clerk position. The city has not filled the vacancy since.

City Council reaction

Sixth Ward Alderman Mike Verbic questioned the city’s ability statutorily to continue governing with the city clerk position left vacant as it is now.

“What’s our position now with the city clerk?” Verbic said. “Again from a state statute standpoint, where are we without a clerk. We look like we are going to be without a clerk. Is that OK?”

City Attorney Matt Rose said the city is not in violation of state statute.

“The office is vacant. We litigated this issue before,” Rose said. “The appellate court has held that … the executive assistant can perform all the duties that the city clerk can do. They’re redundant or the same. The short answer is that it’s OK that we don’t have an appointed member of the city clerk now that it’s been vacant because the executive assistant can do all those same duties.”

City Manager Bill Nicklas said he’s sorry to say the clerk’s office has had an uneven track record over the years.

DeKalb city leaders have long questioned the need for an elected clerk given the city’s history.

Referenda in November 2006 and November 2012 also asked DeKalb voters if they preferred an appointed clerk over an elected one. Each of those times, the question asked if the city clerk should be appointed by the mayor with council consideration. Both times voters said no, according to election records from the DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder’s Office.

In the lead-up to Monday’s council meeting, city staff wanted direction from city leaders on how a referendum should be worded on a November election ballot.

Staff provided the Council with two options for the referendum question:

1. Shall the City Clerk of the City of DeKalb be appointed, rather than elected?

2. Shall the City of DeKalb abolish the office of the City Clerk?

The City Council chose option No 1. The filing of a referendum for the November election ballot is required no later than Aug. 19.

Neighboring Sycamore also will put the question to voters in November. The Sycamore City Council in April approved a referendum asking voters to say whether they prefer an elected or appointed clerk.

Second Ward Alderwoman Barb Larson questioned if it may be better to abolish the clerk’s office.

“Do I want one person appointing?” Larson said.

Nicklas replied, saying the council could always be the appointing body for the city.

First Ward Alderwoman Carolyn Zasada pointed to what she thinks are the main differences between the two referendums prepared by the city.

“Basically, these are both the same question except the first question acknowledges the fact that someone’s going to do this, no matter what,” Zasada said. “Even if we chose the second question, someone has to do this stuff. The first question is clearly less intimidating, less dramatic, less severe sounding.”

Fourth Ward Alderman Greg Perkins said he doesn’t see the need for the clerk’s office to be elected.

“I don’t know why we don’t just make it go away,” Perkins said. “My patience is running out. Whether it’s abolish, eliminate, get rid of, a lot of the function of that role has evolved over the years. It was vastly different in 1970 when that role had a stamp, was stamping bills, paying bills and had its own department. Now we’re digitizing 13,000 records. Things have evolved rapidly.”

City employee doing clerk duties helped modernize record-keeping

On Monday, the council unanimously backed putting a referendum to decide the future of the clerk’s office on the ballot.

The vote was amid a show of support for Recording Secretary and Executive Assistant Ruth Scott. She’s a longtime city employee who handles many of the duties that would traditionally fall under the purview of the city clerk, including taking meeting minutes and handling candidate filings for municipal elections. She previously served as deputy clerk since 2014.

Scott said it’s clear that her work has evolved with the times.

“Today’s filing system is much different than the one I had in 2014,” Scott said.

The council also highlighted what they called Scott’s solo effort to update and modernize city record-keeping, specifically for City Council records. Staff said Scott has worked since 2015 to create a “Central Records” system to help streamline record-keeping that’s been the charge of about 16 city clerks since the 1850s.

Nicklas gave kudos to Scott for her service to the city, saying her work has been vital.

“The thousands of different documents, over 13,000 that she has filed in orderly fashion in the last six, seven years and more intensively in the last five years might not have been connected but for her efforts,” Nicklas said. “The indexing has been just absolutely crucial. And there’s more work to do.”

Elected official compensation

Also at Monday’s council meeting, city leaders sought to set compensation for elected officials.

Under state law, elected official compensation can’t be increased or decreased during a term. An amendment to that pay can be made 180 days before a new term begins, however. According to Illinois municipal code, a term begins with the first regular meeting or special session of the corporate authorities.

The 180-day window for the spring 2025 election of aldermanic seats in the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th Wards will close Oct. 3, city documents show.

As such, the council will need to establish future compensation for these aldermanic seats before that time.

Nicklas said city staff felt time was of the essence to be forthcoming about compensation for elected officials because the annual budget will be presented in draft form in the coming weeks.

Elected officials for the city are issued varying amounts of money for their work, city documents show. The mayor is paid $22,500; the city clerk was budgeted for $8,000, and council members earn $5,400 annually.

Zasada said she is in favor of a cost-of-living adjustment for elected officials.

“When I first came on council, I was a single mother, just paying for childcare cost me money to attend the council meetings,” Zasada said. “When we look to diversify our council, the salary offsets the cost of serving.”

Seventh Ward Alderman John Walker applauded Zasada for speaking up.

“Most work so hard behind the clock,” Walker said. “This is what we want to do. We’re public servants. However, some of us are taking away from our jobs and our families. It’s a little bit of an increase, whatever. A little bit helps. Will it help my family? A little bit would. … Carolyn’s right. There are some people that don’t want to do this because it takes up so much of their time, and they just can’t make ends meet sometimes.”

The City Council directed city staff to prepare an ordinance regarding compensation for elected officials for consideration at a later date.