Yesterday was City Clerk Mary Ellen Kearney's last day as clerk.  That is the end of her era in City Hall, but it is also the end of the era of elected city clerks in B'game.  Way back in 2009 that issue was decided by an election and the position transitioned to an appointed post the next time it came around–that was yesterday.

You can read about the 2009 election here.  That post garnered 63 comments to date for good reasons that I won't recap here, but Russ did a great job laying it out in the original post.  I met the new City Clerk, Meaghan Hassel-Shearer, on Thursday at Mary Ellen's retirement party and I wish her all the best.  It is an important position both in election season and year round documenting how things happen at the Council.  As an elected official, Mary Ellen was totally independent of council and staff pressure.  Meaghan will have to walk a slightly different path, but she can count on watchful citizens to help out if the going gets rough.  And as I mentioned to the city manager Thursday night, all it takes is another Measure to bring back elected clerks.

While I toasted her last week in person, here's a electronic toast to Mary Ellen as we wish her a great retirement.