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DonateSupport Alaska’s Municipal Clerks!
Clerks: the ‘backbone’ of local government.
Clerks are responsible for nearly everything, from record-keeping and organizing meetings, to managing local elections and cooperative activities with other local and Tribal governments.
After statehood in 1959, municipal clerks helped set the policies and procedures for newly formed state-chartered institutions such as cities and boroughs. In the early years, clerks were hired with little practical knowledge of how ‘government worked’ and professional support was nonexistent, requiring the clerks to ‘self-train.’ Taking what they had learned on their own, the clerks created a network amongst themselves to develop and share the practices and systems that became the core elements of Title 29, governing municipal activities throughout Alaska.
Often the primary source of continuity and institutional memory in municipal administration, clerks have outstanding longevity records in contrast to the high turnover rate among mayors and municipal administrators (e.g., in more than 50 years within the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, only five individuals have held the clerk position), making clerks the ‘backbone’ of local government.
Those serving in these critical roles would benefit from more sources of professional support and easier access to educational opportunities. Often isolated in demanding jobs in remote communities, clerks face growing work demands such as staying informed about changing election security procedures and voting technology and administering formal agreements and increased cooperation between municipal and tribal governments.
Newly minted Borough Manager Slajer (Ketchikan Daily News, circa 1979).
Municipal Clerk’s Education Fund (MCEF): A Clerk’s Legacy
The ‘MCEF’ was established in memoriam to Judith “Judi” A. Slajer – a local government pioneer who helped develop the original municipal governance practices and procedures still followed today. Judi was hired as the Borough Clerk and first employee of the newly constituted Ketchikan Gateway Borough in December 1963. During her 16 years as Borough Clerk, before becoming the first woman Borough Manager in the state of Alaska, Judi helped create the Alaska Association of Municipal Clerks to enhance its membership’s professional credentials and stature.
Use the donation form at the bottom of this page to contribute to the Municipal Clerk’s Education Fund in memoriam of Judith “Judi” A. Slajer or the AML Municipal Officials Scholarship Fund (details below).
For more information about the Alaska Association of Municipal Clerks (AAMC), or to make a direct donation to AAMC’s own educational scholarship fund, visit https://www.alaskaclerks.org/
AML Municipal Officials Scholarship Fund
The AML Municipal Officials Scholarship Fund supports Alaska’s local government officials to attend and participate in the Annual Local Government Conference, Summer and Winter Legislative Conferences, and various other events and activities hosted by the Alaska Municipal League. These events include technical assistance and information that are critical to enhancing the efficient and effective governance of Alaska’s municipalities.
This scholarship fund ensures that officials from Alaska’s most disadvantaged and underrepresented communities will be included in ongoing conversations on economic and infrastructure development in the state, and ensures that they continue to have an equal seat at the table as decisions are made towards achieving the priorities of the League’s members.