Bay clerk recognized for career achievement
Bay Village Clerk of Council, Joan Kemper, left, is presented with the Certified Municipal Clerk certificate by Westlake Clerk of Council, Denise Rosenbaum, during the Sept. 27 Bay Village City Council meeting. Photo by Denny Wendell
The clerk of council for the City of Bay Village, Joan Kemper, has reached yet another milestone in her extensive and illustrious career. She has earned the distinction of becoming a certified municipal clerk.
Through the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, two levels of certification are offered, the first of which is the Certified Municipal Clerk, or CMC. (The second is Master Municipal Clerk.) IIMC was founded in 1947, and is a professional association with almost 15,000 members in the US, Canada and 15 other countries. Its primary goal is to actively promote the continuing education and professional development of municipal clerks through extensive education programs, certification, publications, networking, annual conferences and research. IIMC also engages in municipal research administration, enhances critical professional skill development and fosters a spirit of mutual assistance and good fellowship among municipal clerks around the globe.
The CMC program is designed to enhance the job performance of the clerk in both small and large municipalities. To earn the CMC designation, a municipal clerk must attend extensive education programs. The designation also requires pertinent experience in a municipality of which Ms. Kemper has plenty. The program prepares participants to meet the challenges of the complex role of the municipal clerk by providing them with quality education in partnership with 47 institutions of higher learning.
At their Sept. 20 Council meeting, Council President Dwight Clark, the members of Council, Mayor Paul Koomar, members of the administration and those in the audience, took the time to recognize Ms. Kemper’s amazing accomplishment. The culmination of many hours of seminars, conferences and institute sessions over the recent years, is her becoming one of the 4,618 CMCs worldwide, of which, in Ohio, there are now 96. And notably, Ms. Kemper is the first Certified Municipal Clerk for the City of Bay Village.
Additionally, that evening, IIMC bestowed upon Ms. Kemper a well-deserved, special certificate of recognition of professional services for her “exemplary contributions… [her] long-standing commitment to the Municipal Clerk profession… [and her] superior lifetime achievement.” She has been a public servant for 56 years!
As Joan stated after receiving her certificates, “It’s never too late to keep trying, to keep working, keep achieving.”
Council President Clark congratulated and praised Joan, saying she “sets the gold standard for achievement. She does such a marvelous job … keeping council in line and keeping everything straight.”