BCAT News

Town Meeting in May passed every article it considered, except one: An article that would have begun the process of turning the Town Clerk position from an elected role to an appointed one. That article Town Meeting opted to postpone until September. 

It was an article introduced by the Select Board after many conversations with Town Clerk Amy Warfield, who is hoping to retire soon but worries that there are no clear successors in the pipeline. 

“While this position has been elected for 200 years, the responsibilities of the Town Clerk have dramatically changed in just the last five years,” Warfield told Town Meeting, listing the changes to election laws, the challenges with responding to FOIA requests, and managing vital records, among other duties. “All these are very complex and take more than someone winning an election.”

Warfield said many of the towns around Burlington, including those the town views as its peer communities in size and complexity, have moved from elected to appointed clerk positions in recognition of the ways the job has come to require more specialized knowledge and training.

It’s a decision with no right and wrong, she continued, and pros and cons on both sides. An elected Town Clerk would understand Burlington intimately, but would probably lack knowledge of the fundamentals of the job. An appointed clerk, on the other hand, would have the expertise to succeed, but would need to develop the knowledge of Burlington’s history and key political players. Besides, she said, as an employee under the Select Board, an appointed clerk could have to stand strong against potential political influence, or the perception of influence. 

It was that question of influence that led some Town Meeting Members to vote to postpone the vote. 

“I have observed what I view as some instances of not the most qualified individuals getting appointed,” said Town Meeting Member Mimi Bix Hylan. “I want to know what kind of criteria there would be, so if there was a group of candidates, there would be full transparency on any familiar connections, marital connections, who these individuals are.”

“Having a very small elected body that the clerk would report to is kind of a worrisome thing,” said Town Meeting Member John Iler. “I’d want to see protections spelled out as to how this clerk would be free of influence, yet we’re still able to get rid of them if we don’t like them somehow.”

Town Meeting’s vote would not change the clerk’s role immediately; it would simply place an item on the next town election to ask voters to make that change. Administrators said they’d bring the item back to Town Meeting in September with more details on how an appointed role would be structured and what the job description would be.