Council Expected to Hire Deputy City Clerk

While there's still dealing to be done over salary and benefits, the City Council has all but approved the candidate to replace retiring City Clerk Kathy Dornan.

Deputy Clerk Pam Smith was interviewed by council members at a study session before their regular Monday meeting. The 22-year employee's promotion is expected to be approved by the council at its June 27 meeting.

Smith started working for the city as a part-time recording secretary and slowly moved up through the ranks, taking classes in municipal government as she went. During her time as an administrative secretary, she took classes over three years to get her certification as a municipal clerk. Since that time, she's taken more classes toward getting her master municipal clerk designation.

Mayor Jerry Ellis asked Smith questions about her managerial style, where she thought she could further streamline the city's processes in an era of tight budgets and what she thought were the particular challenges facing anyone who would want to be the Farmington Hills Clerk.

"We've reduced staff by three people in recent years and have moved all of our paperwork to electronic formats for both city offices and the public," Smith said. "I take this job seriously, but I've found it challenging to work in the city's most visible position. It's something I'm going to have to grow into."

She said she'd continue to work to bring the cost of government down while keeping up the same level of customer service residents have come to expect from the department. Council member Barry Brickner asked if keeping the price of government low meant not filling the deputy clerk position if Smith were to become clerk. She said no, saying that the clerk's department's work was so varied and so constant that keeping a deputy on staff was important to the city's smooth operation.

"Are you going to be involved in professional organizations?" asked council member Michael Bridges.

"Yes," she said. "I'm currently the secretary of the Oakland County Clerks' Association, and I'm interested in being involved more," Smith said. "I've been on the state education committee in the past. There's a lot of networking at these conferences, a lot of great opportunities."

City Human Resources Director Mary Kohls said Smith is a really good fit for the city – mostly because she's already there.

"Pam is in the trenches and knows the system," she said. "She would be a good clerk."

There was some discussion about whether or not Smith was an appropriate hire, given the city's stated desire that department heads have bachelor's degrees. Ellis said her certification as a clerk was exactly the kind of certification the job calls for. In any case, he said, a degree would not equal the in-office experience she already has.

Kohls said she would be talking to Smith in the coming week to hash out an arrangement on pay and benefits, before the council meets again in two weeks to discuss the position. Outgoing clerk Dornan currently makes about $110,000 a year. The council discussed the possibility of making Smith's compensation hinge on her pursuing further certification or degrees. Kohls said it was most likely Smith would make less than Dornan's compensation package.