Want the Clerk's job?

Dorr Township, McHenry County, Illinois is now Clerk-less. It is operating without an elected Clerk. What will this mean for Township residents, as the Town Meeting scheduled for April 13th approaches?

Elected Clerk Kathleen Schlapp resigned, effective March 31, 2010, at Midnight. Whether that was midnight (the beginning of the day of Wednesday, March 31) or midnight at the end of the day probably doesn't make a lot of difference now. She's gone.

Thank you, Kathleen. What will the Township do without your knowledge and you? And without your integrity? You and I have never spoken, but I've heard the rumor that you resigned over the January Minutes. I was at the March monthly meeting, when a resident raised the question that the January Minutes were inaccurate (untruthful) and reflected business that had never been discussed at the January meeting. I wonder how we'll figure that one out.

Somehow, I think it's not a dead issue.

So now Dorr Township has no Clerk. The Trustees authorized you to appoint a Deputy Clerk by Resolution. If you did so, you were generous to agree and then to appoint Quinn Keefe to the unpaid Deputy Clerk position.

Now Dorr Township has (only) an unpaid Deputy Clerk.

So far, nothing has changed on the Dorr Township website. Kathleen Schlapp's name is still there as Clerk. How much will be spent in special orders to the website manager to bring it up to date? Past meetings still are shown on the website, but perhaps Schlapp didn't change website content. Who does that for the Township?

The Trustees have 60 days to appoint a Clerk to replace Schlapp. They are to advertise the position and accept resumes and applications for it. Will the Township appoint a Citizens' Committee to oversee that process and the selection of a qualified applicant?

Interested in the job? The duties and responsibilities of the Township Clerk can be read at 60 ILCS 1/75‑5. They are many. It seems to me that Dorr Township probably got a pretty good deal for $8,000/year for the previous Clerk.

How much will the Trustees pay the Clerk they appoint?

What are some of the duties?
- Custodian of records
- Maintain records in accordance with the Illinois Local Records Act
- Keep Township meeting records
- Certify to the county clerk the amount of taxes required to be raised for all township purposes
- serve as a deputy voter registration officer if so appointed by the county clerk
- serve as a member of the board of health for a public health district
- serve as an ex-officio clerk for the highway commissioner

Check out this sticky duty of the Deputy Clerk:

"The deputy clerk has the power and duty to do the following:
(1) Execute all documents required by law to be executed by the township clerk and affix the township clerk's seal to those documents when required by law. In signing a document, the deputy clerk shall sign the name of the clerk followed with the word "By" and the deputy clerk's own name and the words "Deputy Clerk".


Why is this "sticky"? Because there is no Clerk whose name is to be followed by "By".

Nothing in the Statute seems to authorize the Deputy Clerk to act as Clerk, if the position is vacant.

The statute does allow the Deputy Clerk to exercise his powers "... only in the absence of the township clerk from the place where the clerk's office is maintained (in the case of powers described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b)) and only when (i) the clerk has directed the deputy clerk, in writing, to exercise that power or (ii) the township board has determined by resolution that the township clerk is temporarily or permanently incapacitated to perform that function."

Look at the pickle the Township is in now. The Clerk isn't "absent" (as in sick, on vacation, temporarily unavailable); the Clerk, well, isn't. There is no Clerk.

And the Trustees can authorize the Deputy Clerk to act on if "... the township clerk is temporarily or permanent incapacitated to perform that function." The Clerk (well, there isn't a Clerk) isn't "temporarily or permanently incapacitated...". Again, the Town Clerk, well, isn't. There isn't one. She isn't "incapacitated".

Seems like the Trustees had better run that ad without delay and hope to hire a replacement faster than fast.

If you are interested in the job, contact Bob Pierce, Supervisor, Dorr Township, at 815.338.0128