Office of the City Clerk 491 E. Pioneer Avenue

Homer, Alaska 99603-7624

(907) 235-3130

(907) 235-8121 ext: 2226, 2227, or 2224

Fax: (907) 235-3143

Jo Johnson, CMC, City Clerk Email: clerk@ci.homer.ak.us

Melissa Jacobsen, Deputy City Clerk II

Renee Krause, Deputy City Clerk I

MEMORANDUM 07-177

DATE: November 20, 2007

TO: Mayor and City Council

FROM: Melissa Jacobsen, Deputy City Clerk

SUBJECT: Alaska Association of Municipal Clerk’s Annual Conference

This year the AAMC annual conference was held November 4^th through 6^th in Fairbanks. On Sunday we had our Advanced Academy, a full day session of training entitled “The Ethical Leader, Perspectives and Skills of Effective Leaders in Public Settings”. The discussion throughout the day focused on changing assumptions, creating trust through candor, and understanding that leadership is a sacred trust that comes from followers. It was a very interesting day.

During the rest of the conference we heard an update from the Division of Elections Office and a review of policies from APOC regarding disclosure. There were sessions on ethics, vital records protection, and my favorite, the Open Meetings Act. City Attorney Tans does a session at our conference each year and every time I pick up on something that gives me a better understanding of working with the Commissions and Committees.

Our last session was called “Coffee Talk”. There is a panel of more experienced clerk’s who answer questions that the attendees submit during the course of the conference and from the floor during the session. In an effort to ensure privacy and that there were no Councilmembers, Mayors or Managers in the room (what happens at the conference stays at the conference!) the whole group was asked to stand and then were seated as the number of years they had been a Clerk or Deputy Clerk was called out. I found it interesting to see that at least 80% of the attendees had been in their positions for 5 years or less. It reaffirms for me how important it is for us to attend these education opportunities so we can learn from each other, share our experiences, and know that we have a strong network out there.