55Th Annual Professional Municipal Clerks Week May 5-11-2024

Municipal Clerks are the oldest public servants along with tax collectors, dating back before Biblical times.  The modern Hebrew translation of Town Clerk is Mazkir Ha’ir, which literally translated, means City or Town “Reminder.”

In 1984 and 1994 Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton respectively, signed a Proclamation officially declaring the first full week of May and recognizing the essential role Municipal Clerks play in local government.

In 1934 Professor William Bennett Munroe, eminent political Scientist, wrote in one of his first textbooks on municipal administration, stated: “No other office in municipal service has so many contracts. It serves the Mayor (Supervisor), councilors and manager (when there is one) and all the administrative departments without exception.

The term “clerk” is an ancient and honorable one. It comes from the early middle ages when churches regulated many local government matters and only clergy were educated and could write; therefore, the idea of a clerk as a writer, keeper of records and local official comes from this history.

In America, the first settlers created the office of parish or town clerk.

Every city and town in the nation, regardless of size, has a clerk or equivalent position.