In just a few short weeks we will final-ly all be together in B e r k e l e y California. I can’t believe it is already here. Your conference and educa-tion session p l a n n e r s

have quite simply done an amazing job. Con-ference also marks the winding down of much of the travel that the CCAC president does each year attending the other Region IX state conferences (Washington, Alaska, and Oregon.) I have learned so much on these trips. “Out-of-State” clerking is exactly the same as what we do here in California; and it is completely different. I have found it very interesting to see how the other states conduct their conference and their business meetings. I tried to steal the very best ideas from them and bring them back to our group. I also used these trips to reset, to re-examine my own balance. I have learned balance can be fleeting and requires care and feeding! I challenge you in the next week to think of something that you would do if you had more time – something for yourself, not triple checking the agenda. Put that something in your travel bag. Do you want to go to the gym? There is one in the hotel you CAN fit it in while you are here.

Miss reading, or sewing or something like that? Pack it in your suitcase and since you won’t have a commute to work (riding an elevator isn’t a commute) set your alarm to get up at the same time you normally do; then use your commute time to find the balance. Don’t forget to pack your favorite cruise wear for our all conference event on Wednesday night! I am sure it will be a blast. Finally get ready to don your tiaras and ten-nies for our annual banquet. This was my way of weaving in a fine balance of sparkles and comfort. Unlike our many esteemed presidents before, my shoe of choice is the steadfast tennis shoe. Sure, I do have some “Shirley” shoes as many of us have come to know them; but when my socks are dry and my tootsies comfy that is when I am literally the most balanced. Just like balance means many different things to each of us – that is what the theme for the evening is for me. Come as your most favorite you – that might be a ball gown and tux; it could be a well-worn pair of chucks. All are welcome. See you in Berkeley!

CCAC President’s Message I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

President’s

Message 1

Treasurer’s

Notes 2

CCAC Annual

Conference 2

Educational

Sessions 3

2018 CCAC

Election 4

Region 3

Message 4

Region 10

Message 5

Newly

Designated 5

Region 16

Spotlight 6

CCAC

Scholarships 6

Notice of

Nominations 7

CCAC

Fundraising 16

CCAC 2018

Sponsors 20

Board of

Directors 24

OFFICIAL WORD A P R I L 2 0 1 8 V O L U M E 1 9 , I S S U E 4

Wendy Klock-Johnson, MMC

CCAC President

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Treasurer’s Notes - Susan Domen, MMC

The 2018 CCAC Annual Conference begins April 17th with the optional Advanced Academy Session and Athenian Dialogue. General Sessions will be held April 18th through 20th. We look forward to seeing you at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Berkeley Marina for great conference sessions, networking opportunities, and, of course, a little bit of fun! Information regard-

ing IIMC points, session content and options oppor-tunities is available on the CCAC website at: www.californiacityclerks.org/ccac-annual-conference.

CCAC Members, your educational dollars at work! Below is the Financials on Education for the period July 1, 2017 – February 28, 2018. Please note that this is reflective of all transac-tions that took place prior to February 28th and does not reflect anything after. If you have any questions please feel free to con-tact me at sdomen@lake-elsinore.org.

Support scholarship fundraising at the 2018 Annual Conference! Silent Auction: Donate an item to the Silent Auction.

See page 16 for form. Wine Pull: Donate your favorite bottle of wine! Partici-

pants pull a number and win the corresponding bottle. See page 18 for form.

CCAC Store: Pick up some CCAC swag during the Conference!

Training Revenue Training Expenses Training Profit / Loss

Total Scholarships Provided 15,587.65

Nuts & Bolts 19,981.88

Athenian 15,300.00

Region Workshops 25,888.98

Nuts & Bolts 17,480.26

Athenian 11,353.79

Region Workshops 28,260.99

Nuts & Bolts 2,501.62

Athenian 3,946.21

Region Workshops -2,372.01

Total Profit/Loss 4,075.82

2018 CCAC Annual Conference - Berkeley, CA

2018 CCAC Annual Conference Diamond Sponsors

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Register now for

these upcoming

educational

opportunities.

Upcoming CCAC Educational Sessions

O F F I C I A L W O R D

Athenian Dialogues It Worked for Me by Colin Powell Facilitated by Anthony Mejia, MMC Friday, May 18, 2018 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Hosted by City of San Bernardino Limited to 30 participants Click here for more information and to register online.

The Petticoat Affair by John F. Marzalek Facilitated by Patrice Olds, MMC Saturday, June 16, 2018 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Hosted by City of Galt Limited to 25 participants Click here for more information and to register online.

Dawn Abrahamson, MMC

Professional Development

Director

CCAC Education Workshops When You Know That You’re Not the Problem… Working with and for Impossible People May 10, 2018, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Hosted by Ontario International Airport Authority Click here for more information and to register online by May 4, 2018

Nine Forms of Leadership: How the Enneagram Can Create Better Teams, Motivate Staff and Influence Those We Serve May 11, 2018, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Hosted by City of Lakeport Click here for more information and to register online by May 4, 2018

Records Management in Today’s Government: A Lighthearted Approach to Tackle a Myri-ad of Issues in Managing Your Information June 15, 2018, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Hosted by City of Galt Click here for more information and to register online by June 7, 2018

Central Nuts & Bolts Workshop June 7-8, 2018 Located at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Modesto Click here for more information

2018 CCAC Annual Conference

April 17-20, 2018

DoubleTree at the Marina

Berkeley, CA

http://www.californiacityclerks.org/ccac-annual-conference

View more 2018 Educational Opportunities at www.californiacityclerks.org/education-and-events.

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2018 CCAC Election CCAC is conducting its annual election. The Notice of Nominations, along with the Acceptance of Nomination and Candidate Statement Form, is attached to this issue of the Official Word beginning on page 7. The Region Director job description, along with a list and map of the regions, is also attached in this issue. Pursuant to CCAC bylaws and policies, the Acceptance of Nomination and Candi-date Statement Form must be received no later than June 13, 2018. This year, the election will be conducted by electronic ballot which will be emailed to all voting members by July 3, 2018. The deadline to complete and submit the ballot is August 3, 2018.

Leilani I. Brown, MMC

Nominating Chair

Region 3 Director’s Message - Jennifer Ferraiolo, MMC On Friday, March 9, 2018, the City of Lodi hosted a Region 3 Educational Workshop on the subject of “Implementing New CCAC Guidelines for Preparing Minutes,” as presented by Shalice Tilton, retired City Clerk. Ms. Tilton presented an informative session on how to prepare minutes that are efficient, suc-cinct, cost-effective to prepare, and most importantly that are

aligned with the intent of the Government Code. There were 27 people in attendance, and the group was welcomed by Lodi City Manager Stephen Schwabauer who recognized and thanked city clerks for all we do. The presentation included videos and hands-on exercises to demonstrate and teach attendees how to prepare minutes that properly attest to the legislative body’s decision-making pro-cess by memorializing final decisions, capturing the essence of the discus-sion, and presenting the main threads that lead to the body’s conclusion in a brief, concise manner. We also explored the benefits of persuading elected officials to transi-tion from long-form minutes to action or brief summary-style minutes, as well as aspects of

minutes needed to meet legal requirements for quasi-judicial public hearings and administrative or legislative public hearings. The overwhelming response from participants was this was an extremely beneficial and worthwhile class with tips and tech-niques to prepare improved, high-quality minutes, which di-rectly reflects on the professionalism of the city clerk as a public official. Based on feedback, some the highlights of the session included the TGIF rule in summarizing minutes – Topic, Germane Discussion, In Conclusion, Follow Up; think-ing of summary minutes as a headline; Government Code section relating to reports by legislative members on meetings attended at the expense of the local agency; list of synonyms and action verbs for use in preparing minutes; and tips for cutting out vague, repetitious, or pretentious words to get to the point. We concluded the day with an optional afternoon session with Complete Paperless Solutions to discuss Laserfiche 101 – tips and techniques for improved searching; electronic records

management; contract and insurance manage-ment; and workflow elements. All in all, it was a very educational and informa-tive day, and I would highly recommend taking part in Shalice Tilton’s workshop on preparing minutes should you have the opportunity to in the future.

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O F F I C I A L W O R D

Kelly Lore, MMC

Raymond Markel, CMC Administrative Assistant, City of Walnut

Newly Designated Clerks Maria Soria, CMC Deputy District Clerk, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

Region 10 Director’s Message Hello to everyone from Region 10 which consists of 34 cities in beautiful Orange County. Even though quite small on the map, Orange County is the 3rd most populous county in California. It is my pleasure to serve as the Clerk of the Board at Orange County Sanitation District which is located in the City of Fountain Valley. I previ-ously served the cities of Cypress and Westmin-ster. Being a Clerk at a Special District is not much different than a City Clerk. Did you know that independent Special Districts conduct elections and serve as filing officers for their agencies? I am so grateful for the training, mentoring and networking that membership of CCAC offers and provides. As one of my goals this year, I plan to reach out to Cities and other Special Districts in Region 10 to promote membership in CCAC and encourage participation in the many great educa-tional opportunities available throughout the Re-gions. On March 29, 2018, Region 10 held an Educational Workshop at the Elhers Center in the City of Buena Park. A very big thank you goes out to City Clerk Adria Jimenez and her amazing staff for their generosity hosting our event. I would also like to thank our fantastic workshop sponsors American Legal Publishing Corporation, Southtech Systems, Netfile, and ECS Imaging, Inc. The topic of the workshop was “Political Astute-ness: How Perceptive Are You?” presented by Pamela Miller. The interactive workshop was well attended by 48 clerks and staff whose morning focused on what it means to be politi-cally astute and how politics influence decisions and organ-izational cultures. We took a Political

Savvy Assessment for self-awareness. We then concentrated on our own agency’s political cul-ture, reflected and shared the primary influences of the environment and what impacts those influ-ences.

Those who attended the workshop studied funda-mental political values and ranked their agency’s collective values from top priority to lowest with a value card exercise. It was a very interesting comparison. The group learned that being politi-cally astute involves a great deal of political aware-ness. The “Building My Network” exercise also proved to be very insightful for the group. It was agreed that we need to continue to broaden our network by connecting with others outside of our comfort zone. We then identified ways to in-crease our personal and political influence. Thanks so much to Pamela for her outstanding presentation and all the information she shared with us. We left with a better understanding of

ourselves and great tools for our growth and devel-opment as political-ly astute leaders. Most of all, thank you to everyone who attended. I hope to see you all in Berkeley!

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Suellen Johnston, CMC, assumed the position of American Canyon’s City Clerk in August 2016, and has been thoroughly enjoying working with all of the friendly staff and citizens of Ameri-can Canyon while getting to know the other clerks and cities throughout Napa County. Before mak-ing the change to

American Canyon in 2016, Suellen worked for the City of Dixon, California, for nine years…first as the Deputy City Clerk and the last three years as Dixon’s City Clerk. “I learned so much during my time in Dixon and am very grateful to have received excel-lent training from Dixon’s retired City Clerk, Janice Beaman. She taught me all of the meticulous rules of clerkdom—and we all know there are many!” Prior to Dixon, Suellen worked in her home city of Vacaville for ten years supporting the City’s Human Resources Director and then the Department of Housing and Redevelopment. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and has also worked in the private sector. “I found that I really enjoy serving the public and the challenges they bring to us, regardless of the ease or difficulty of a situation. I challenge myself to remain calm, hopefully tactful, and go the extra mile to solve problems or, if a problem is

beyond the City’s scope, at least make that person feel they were listened to, which generally makes them feel better than when they arrived.” Suellen (Sue) shared a bit of her personal life: “I am single after a long-term marriage and have two grown sons and two wonderful grandchildren, a boy and a girl. My grand-children are so special to me. We love to have sleepovers at my house and spend the entire time playing and exploring. It is such a pleasure to experience their fun little personalities as they grow and change. Otherwise my life is pretty normal and routine, how-ever some people find the home improvement pro-jects I tackle on my own to be a bit unusual. Yes…I did drink the HGTV Kool-Aid that promotes the “ease” of doing things yourself. Although we all know how that goes in real life, I have found home improvement to be a productive hobby for myself and my home. Over the past years I bought a table saw and have surprised myself by taking on progres-sively larger projects including dry rot repairs, con-

struction of a fireplace surround, bathroom updates, a large paver patio, rebuilding and expansion of a wooden deck, and last week I knocked down a wall! To tell the truth, I really hope I am done for a while so I can sit and enjoy the im-provements and maybe travel some more (any suggestions?). Of course, I do say that every time I finish a project!”

Suellen Johnston, CMC

City Clerk

City of American Canyon

CCAC Scholarship Applications Scholarship applications are now being accepted! Scholarships are awarded twice a year and can be used for various Institutes and Education Courses. View details and application form online at http://www.californiacityclerks.org/scholarships. Applications must be submitted by June 1, 2018.

REGION 16

SPOT LIGHT

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CCAC Silver Sponsor CCAC Bronze Sponsors

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Wendy Klock-Johnson, MMC, President Assistant City Clerk, Sacramento (916) 808-7509, wkjohnson@cityofsacramento.org

Stephanie Smith, MMC, First Vice-President City Clerk, Murrieta (951) 461-6030, ssmith@murrietaca.gov

Patrice M. Olds, MMC, Second Vice-President City Clerk, San Mateo (650) 522-7042, polds@cityofsanmateo.org

Britt Avrit, MMC, Recording Secretary City Clerk, Lancaster (661) 723-6020, bavrit@cityoflancasterca.org

Randi Johl-Olson, JD, MMC, Legislative Director City Clerk, Temecula (951) 694-6421, randi.johl@cityoftemecula.org

Mitzi Ortiz, MMC, Communications Director City Clerk, Aliso Viejo (949) 425-2506, mortiz@cityofalisoviejo.com

Susan Domen, MMC, Treasurer City Clerk, Lake Elsinore (951) 674-3124 x262, sdomen@lake-elsinore.org

Dawn Abrahamson, MMC, Professional Dev Director City Clerk, Vallejo (707) 648-4528, dawn.abrahamson@cityofvallejo.net

April Sousa, Region 1 Director City Clerk, Blue Lake (707) 668-5655, cityclerk@bluelake.ca.gov

Donna Settles, CMC, Region 2 Director City Clerk, Galt (209) 366-7130, dsettles@ci.galt.ca.us

Jennifer M. Ferraiolo, MMC, Region 3 Director City Clerk, Lodi (209) 333-6702, jferraiolo@lodi.gov

Yvonne Spence, CRM, MMC, Region 4 Director City Clerk, Fresno (559) 621-7650, yvonne.spence@fresno.gov

Melinda Sayre, CMC, MPA, Region 5 Director City Clerk, Hesperia (760) 947-1007, msayre@cityofhesperia.us

Vicki Kasad, MMC, Region 6 Director Assistant City Clerk, Ontario (909) 395-2166, vkasad@ontarioca.gov

Jerryl Soriano, CMC, Region 7 Director City Clerk, Desert Hot Springs (760) 329-6411 x107, jsoriano@cityofdhs.org

Diane Caldwell, CMC, Region 8 Director City Clerk, El Centro (760) 337-4515, dcaldwell@cityofelcentro.org

Kerry Bigelow, MMC, Region 9 Director City Clerk, Chula Vista (619) 407-3590, kbigelow@chulavistaca.gov

Kelly Lore, MMC, Region 10 Director Clerk of the Board, Orange County Sanitation District (714) 593-7433, klore@ocsd.com

Denise Anderson-Warren, CMC, Region 11 Director City Clerk, Santa Monica (310) 458-8211, denise.anderson-warren@smgov.net

Michelle Ascencion, CMC, Region 12 Director City Clerk, City of Oxnard (805) 385-7805, michelle.ascencion@oxnard.org

Patricia Barajas, CMC, Region 13 Director City Clerk, City of Salinas (831) 758-7383, patricib@ci.salinas.ca.us

Jennifer Woodworth, MMC, Region 14 Director District Clerk, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (650) 691-1200, jwoodworth@openspace.org

Margaret Wimberly, MMC, Region 15 Director City Clerk, Brentwood (925) 516-5182, mwimberly@brentwoodca.gov

Kathy Flamson, MMC, Region 16 Director City Clerk, Calistoga (707) 942-2807, kflamson@ci.calistoga.ca.us

Jose Jasso, MMC, Immediate Past President City Clerk, Rio Vista (707) 374-6567, jjasso@ci.rio-vista.ca.us

2017-18 CCAC Board of Directors