AI note-taking tools have made it easy to generate a full transcript of a meeting without anyone typing a word. That convenience comes with a records question clerks can't really opt out of: the moment a transcript exists, is it a public record — and if so, for how long does it have to stay [...]
Back in 2021, we wrote about what researchers were calling a "silver tsunami" — a wave of local government retirements picking up speed as the economy improved and the pandemic wore on. In 2022, we followed up with what the data was showing about why people were leaving: burnout, compensation, work-life balance. Both pieces were [...]
Updated August 26, 2026: For a closer look at one specific piece of this — whether AI-generated meeting transcripts count as public records, and what that means for retention — see Are AI Meeting Transcripts Public Records? What Clerks Need to Know, publishing September 2, 2026. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just a [...]
Punctuation might seem like a small detail next to everything else on a clerk's plate. But it's the body language of the written word. Nowhere does that matter more than in the documents your office produces every week: agendas, minutes, motions, and public notices that residents, council members, and courts may all read closely. The [...]
Extreme heat local government planning isn't usually framed as a clerk's-office issue — and that's not a gap in your preparedness. Emergency management, public health, and public works typically own this topic. But clerks already handle plenty that falls outside those departments' usual playbooks. Meeting continuity, public notice, and the official record all intersect with [...]
Looking ahead, September marks the start of real election crunch time. Clerks recruit poll workers and lock in training schedules. And this year, they should also build election worker safety planning into that prep. Local election officials report rising concern about safety heading into the 2026 midterms. Free, practical tools already exist to help. CISA [...]
Municipal office worker at her desk with a framed beach photo of her dog, a personal touch supporting work-life balance. If your desk is anything like ours, it's not just where the work happens. It's covered in reminders of why you do it. A photo from your kid's last soccer game. A "World's [...]
updated July 2026 Everyone has had that moment. You click Send in Outlook and immediately realize something's wrong. Maybe the attachment didn't make it. Maybe the message went to the wrong person. Maybe you spotted a typo just a second too late. For municipal clerks, the stakes are a little higher than a [...]
Bristol, Rhode Island has been marking civic milestones longer than almost anywhere else in the country. The town's Fourth of July celebration, established in 1785, is recognized as the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States — a tradition of public participation that has continued, year after year, for more than two centuries. [...]
July 4, 2026 marks something rare — not just a national holiday, but a genuine milestone. America turns 250. The fireworks are spectacular. The speeches are patriotic. The parades are joyful. But here's what most people celebrating this semiquincentennial won't stop to think about: self-governance doesn't happen at the parade. It happens in your office. [...]