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. [...]
Meeting Records Are the Most Requested. Are Yours Findable? Public records requests are at record levels — and they're not slowing down. Federal FOIA requests topped 1.5 million in fiscal year 2024, a 25 percent increase in a single year. Backlogs grew 33 percent. The average response time for a simple request stretched from 39 [...]
Fort Worth, Texas, home to the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive, knows how to keep things moving forward. The City has adopted the full suite of OnBoardGOV modules to streamline and modernize civic engagement across their committees. By integrating OnBoardGOV's Applications, Attendance, Meetings, Calendar, Analytics, Certifications, Single Sign On, and Notifications modules, Fort Worth is [...]
Public records request volume has been climbing steadily for years, but the nature of that increase is changing in ways that matter for how clerk offices manage their workload, their documentation, and their risk. It's not just more requests. It's more complex requests, faster turnaround expectations, and a new category of high-volume, AI-assisted filings that [...]
Managing clerk office workload is a year-round challenge — but June compresses it. Elections to prepare for, records requests to process, emergency plans to update, fiscal years to close, and summer vacations already pulling at staffing. For many clerks in smaller communities, those pressures land on a desk that also carries finance, human resources, and [...]
June marks National Safety Month — and the start of hurricane season. That combination makes it the ideal time for municipal clerks to review, update, and practice their community's emergency plan. You may not have "emergency manager" in your job title. But when disaster strikes, you are often the person everyone turns to. This post [...]
Romulus, Michigan has a history of being a place where people show up to do the right thing: the city served as a stop on the Underground Railroad in the 1800s, and two of those original structures are still standing today. That same sense of civic accountability carries into how Romulus manages its boards and [...]
Poll worker accessibility training is where Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance moves from policy to practice. If poll workers are not prepared, voters are affected, operations are affected, and compliance is affected. Accessibility requirements apply at the polling place Title II of the ADA requires that voters with disabilities have a full and equal [...]
Recruitment is getting harder. Accessible poll worker recruitment is one practical way to expand your applicant pool and reduce friction, not just another compliance requirement layered onto an already full workload. Recruitment is a public-facing program Poll worker recruitment isn't just internal staffing. It's a public program, and public programs carry accessibility obligations. Title II [...]
If you work in local government and support legislative bodies, boards, or committees, you’re already living in Robert’s Rules every day. May 2 marks the birthday of Henry Martyn Robert, author of Robert’s Rules of Order. It’s a simple way to recognize the role parliamentary procedure plays in keeping meetings fair, structured, and moving forward. [...]