Endorsement: Yes on appointment of Bloomingdale clerk

Bloomingdale residents will be asked whether their village clerk should be appointed rather than elected, beginning next April. State law allows village boards to make the decision in communities smaller than 5,000 residents; at 22,000 residents, Bloomingdale needs a vote of approval to make the change. If voters agree, the clerk would be appointed by the village president if approved by the board, following the same process in place for the village treasurer. Village officials put the question to residents in part because interest in the job has waned and candidate recruitment has been necessary. Proponents say the change would allow the village president to seek out a nominee with skills appropriate for the office; no such prerequisites exist for a candidate running for the post. Regardless of the vote, the clerk still will serve as keeper of village documents and recorder of meeting minutes. The village board plans to modernize the clerk’s job description and likely reduce the pay to between $2,000 and $6,000, a modest decrease from the current $9,600 salary, to reflect that some duties have been absorbed by village staff. Ultimately, the change codifies the recruitment process using an existing nomination system. We recommend a yes vote.