|
CCAC President's Message
Patrice Olds, MMC
Dear Clerk Colleagues,
I have a song from Rent stuck in my mind:
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, a year in the life?
I think this year I have felt every
one of those minutes keenly. It has been quite a year of challenges and
growth opportunities for our profession, our organizations, our
communities, and the entire world. While we’ve had to deal with health
fears, job fears, disappointments, cancellations, racial and social
justice issues, protests, and are now reeling from the consequences of
devastating wildfires and tremendous loss of life from COVID-19 – we
have also stepped up and truly embraced our purpose as public servants
in profound ways. Through the unease and unrest, I’ve felt immense pride
in seeing clerks respond to their community’s needs and in seeing them
say yes to the need and find innovative ways to meet that need. It’s not
just in pivoting to remote meetings on a dime, but it’s in leading our
organizations with kindness, good spirits, a can-do attitude,
courageously embracing change, and in being the person who gets things
done. In the times of strife is when our character is revealed. Clerks
are shining brightly in these times.
“It is only in our darkest
hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light
within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed.” – Doe Zantamata
I began this year with the theme of
powerful partnerships and wanted to highlight how much better we are
when we honor and build those partnerships and relationships. Again and
again, throughout this year, I have seen examples of these powerful
partnerships. With our wonderful vendors who stepped up to support the
profession by hosting virtual trainings, with the League stepping in to
give us a space to share ideas, with the education committee completely
redoing the education model, with our institute directors rising to the
challenge of the remote environment, in our communities in how we are
partnering with the school districts to repurpose park and recreation
facilities for learning environments for those in need, with our public
works departments working with restaurants to create outdoor dining
spaces, with our staff who step up to say I got it – I’ll do it – Yes we
can. Thank you to everyone quietly doing the important work of public
service. Sometimes its just about just putting one foot in front of the
other day after day.
“Courage doesn’t always
roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day,
saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
Thank you for allowing me the
opportunity to lead this association in this year of challenges and
great growth opportunities. With a deep gratitude and pride I want to
thank the Board of Directors for how they have stepped up to ensuring
the profession is supported by the association with updated financial
and educational policies, by raising the scholarship thresholds, and
embracing a long-term strategic vision to address the changing needs of
the profession through a strong membership association. It has been an
honor to serve beside you all. Thank you.
Patrice
 Treasurer's Message:
CCAC has added a new feature for payment of membership dues and other educational events. You can now pay by using your bank account information. Soon you will see the option to pay via eCheck. If you choose the eCheck option you will
be asked how would you like to pay. If you choose “Pay Now”, you will be asked to enter your checking account information (routing number, account number and check number). This is yet another way to make your payment options easy
and convenient. If you have any questions, please contact Yvonne Spence, MMC, Treasurer at spenceyvonne@aol.com.
Events Calendar
CCAC Education Workshops
Intersecting Emotional and Social Intelligence with Leadership Effectiveness (Region 1)
October 16, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. - Virtual
Click here for more information.
Legislative Affairs Workshop (Region 7)
September 30, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. - Virtual
Click here for more information.
Athenian Dialogues
Your
CCAC Athenian Leadership Dialogue Committee has been hard at work
scheduling and coordinating upcoming virtual ALDs to ensure that this
educational opportunity continues to be offered for those pursuing their
CMC/MMC and/or fellowship through IIMC!
Upcoming virtual dialogues are as follows:
 Becoming by Michelle Obama
Facilitated by Stephanie Smith, MMC
October 3, 2020 at 9:00 a.m.
Virtual!
Click here for more information.
 dare to lead by Brene Brown
Facilitated by Kathy Flamson, MMC / April Sousa, CMC
October 30/31, 2020
Virtual!
Click here for more information.
 The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James
Facilitated by Peggy Hawker, MMC
November 14, 2020
Virtual!
Click here for more information.
 Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Facilitated by Laura Nieto, MMC / Ashton Gout, CMC
December 5, 2020
Virtual!
Click here for more information.
 The Submission: A Novel by Amy Waldman
Facilitated by Peggy Hawker, MMC
January 8/9, 2021
Virtual!
Click here for more information.
If you are interested in facilitating an upcoming virtual ALD, please contact April Sousa at asousa@mckinleyvillecsd.com.
“The
Born a Crime ALD was my favorite of all ALDs I have attended. The
virtual environment causes me no distress relating to travel/travel time
and the associated expenses for traveling. I hope that the virtual ALD
setting will continue with vigor even after COVID-19 settles”. Bonnie T. Williams, City Clerk, City of Whiteville, NC
“Because
our travel/training budget has been slashed due to Coronavrius, I have
been paying for courses that apply to my MMC certification out of
pocket. Not having to pay for airline tickets, hotel rooms, and food has
made it possible for me to continue with my educational goals, so I do
appreciate the IIMC offering these online programs!” - June Lemos, City Clerk, Fort Bragg, CA
Visit CCAC Events Calendar for all upcoming education opportunities.
Newly Designated Clerks
Jessica Contreras, MMC - Deputy City Clerk II, City of Chino Hills
WELCOME NEW CCAC MEMBERS!
ON BEHALF OF CCAC, WE’D LIKE TO WELCOME EACH OF YOU. AS A MEMBER, YOU WILL RECEIVE REDUCED REGISTRATION FEES FOR EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES, ACCESS TO SCHOLARSHIPS AND A NETWORK OF MUNICIPAL CLERK PROFESSIONALS STATEWIDE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR DEDICATION AND COMMITMENT!
Amy Herman, City of Point Arena
bookkeeper@pointarena.ca.gov
Sherri Brusseau, San Jose-Evergreen Community College District
Sherri.Brusseau@sjeccd.edu
Gladys Mecum, City of Concord
Gladys.Mecum@cityofconcord.org
Martha Aguirre, City of La Puente
maguirre@lapuente.org
Tamara Cusano, City of Simi Valley
tcusano@simivalley.org
Juana Espinoza, City of Lindsay
jespinoza@lindsay.ca.us
Sarina Friend, City of Rocklin
Sarina.Friend@rocklin.ca.us
Rose Chaparro, City of Santa Paula
rchaparro@spcity.org
FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO OUR NEW MEMBERS TO WELCOME THEM TO CCAC!
DON'T FORGET YOUR 2020/2021 CCAC MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL!
 Marc Donohue, MMC (Membership Services Director)
Everyone should have received a
membership renewal email from CCAC on or around June 15, 2020, for the
annual 12-month membership renewal. Membership renewals are due on September 30, 2020. Memberships not renewed by September 30th
will be considered lapsed memberships and you will not be eligible for
scholarships or member-rates for the annual conference and educational
sessions.
To receive a copy of your invoice,
please login to your CCAC account to retrieve the correct invoice for
your membership dues. If you are having issues generating your invoice
from your CCAC account, please email membership@californiacityclerks.org and we can generate the invoice and email it to you.
On behalf of the entire CCAC Executive
Board, we thank you for being a member and renewing your membership! If
you have any questions about this new membership renewal process,
please contact Membership Services.
Professional Development Update
Shawna Freels, MMC
A huge THANK YOU!
As I end my 2-year term as CCAC
Professional Development Director and pass the baton, I have to share
the tremendous amount of gratitude I have for the members of my
Professional Development Committee. Dawn Abrahamson, Denise
Anderson-Warren, Kerry Bigelow, Holly Charlety, Jerryl Soriano, April
Sousa, Vicki Kasad, Peggy Kuo and Mark Numainville are the team of
brilliant Clerks who have brought forward the bold ideas, and creative
new ways to improve our delivery of education and scholarships to
support members in their professional development. This dedicated group
worked behind the scenes to find financial sponsorship to support
education, created and instructed trainings, cultivated trainers,
re-thought how scholarships are issued and successfully lobbied for
additional monies, developed resources to support Region Directors with
their workshops, transitioned CCAC to virtual learning, built a learning
library, brought mentorship to the newest of clerks and wholly
dedicated themselves to your professional success. Undoubtedly the
finest group of professional Clerks I’ve had the opportunity to work
with - You guys ROCK!
Fall Region Workshops
Regions are back on track after the summer with fresh new virtual Region Workshops. On September 30th
Region 7 will be holding a workshop with legislative affairs experts
who will detail best practices in tracking, proposing and lobbying on
State and Federal legislation. September 30th and October 1st
Region 13 will be conducting a workshop on managing the new Council
Member orientation and onboarding process with a very unique training
duo – a highly experienced City Clerk and a veteran former City Clerk
who has just become a newly elected Council Member. Plans in the works
for additional workshops in October and November.
Institutes Gone Virtual a Big Success
I’m thrilled to say the MMC Institute
Virtual Leadership Series of six (6) different sessions has completely
sold out for the sessions being held throughout September and October,
all geared toward those of you working to earn your Master Municipal
Clerk (MMC) or Certified Clerk of the Board (CCB) credential.
Equally as exciting is the success of
our first virtual TTC session #101 “Local Government Overview” which
sold out at 100 attendees. More sessions encompassing portions of TTC
Series 100 will be held throughout the fall and winter.
For updates on CCAC programming and scholarship opportunities, or to register for other upcoming trainings, check the Education & Events page of the CCAC website.
Special District Clerks
 April Sousa, CMC
Special District Clerks are a part of CCAC too!
Did you know that there are over
30,000 Special Districts in the United States, according to the last US
Census figures, and around 3,400 Special Districts in California alone?
Often, this form of government is considered the most local of local
governments, providing essential services to constituents such as water,
wastewater, transit, parks and recreation, lighting, etc.
The work of a Special District Clerk
is often a little more specialized, and while elections are run slightly
differently, many of the same state statutes and governing laws apply
to Special Districts the same as Cities. So, what is so special about
Special Districts? They are created for the people of a community to
deliver an essential service that a city or county does not currently
provide – this means that Special Districts can exist within
incorporated areas.
A year ago, I moved from a position as
a City Clerk to a Special District Clerk. The tools and experience I
learned here, through CCAC, have been invaluable. Our Special District
Clerk cohort within CCAC is growing, and now sits at 122 Special
District Clerks as members of CCAC. If you know a special district clerk
that is not a part of CCAC, I want to encourage you to reach out to
them and show how CCAC is not just for City Clerks.
-April Sousa, CMC
Board Secretary
McKinleyville Community Services District
Sponsors
(click image)
|
Print Page
Email to a Friend
