Sitting BG clerk is ’awesome,’ says colleague

I am appalled and shocked at the content I read on Rob Sherman’s (candidate for Buffalo Grove Village Clerk) website. The accusations and lies about Jan Sirabian couldn’t be further from the truth. Jan is a respected longtime village clerk, who is competent, dedicated and highly capable of performing the statutory and assigned duties of her office.

If you don’t already know, let me enlighten you. In addition to working full time, Jan has been a member and a leader of the Municipal Clerks of Illinois and a member of the International Municipal Clerks, Cook County and Lake County Clerk’s Associations.

She has voluntarily served in many capacities and is always available for advice and guidance to her fellow clerks. This is especially necessary and helpful for the newer clerks. The duties of clerk are more involved than just attending meetings and writing minutes.

Clerks are responsible for all of the records of the municipality, including archiving and cataloging them for future searches. Clerks are responsible to receive and provide documents to anyone who requests them under the Freedom of Information Act within five business days, act as the local election official for the municipality, filing oaths and bonds and supervise financial records, to name a few. 

The list is almost unending.  I would also like to point out that the content of minutes should be kept to the actual “business transacted” at the meeting and not the verbatim conversations at the meeting.  Further Mr. Sherman should know that although the clerk drafts the minutes, the members of the public body are responsible for approving the content and should take the time to ensure that the permanent records are complete and accurate.

Jan Sirabian is an awesome lady with the talent, knowledge, dedication and expertise to perform the important duties required as the village clerk of Buffalo Grove and I stand behind her all the way!

I hope for the citizens of Buffalo Grove that Jan Sirabian is re-elected on April 5th. 

Vanessa Moritz

Forest Park village clerk