Chelsea Mikel, Clerk of Sharon Township, was recently elected Michigan's 2015 Township Clerk of the Year

The Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks recently announced the results of its annual Clerk of the Year election and the 2015 Township Clerk of the Year is Sharon Township Clerk Chelsea Mikel. The award, along with City Clerk of the Year and Village Clerk of the Year, was presented at the annual MAMC Conference at Mission Point Resort, Mackinac Island on June 25.  Secretary of State Ruth Johnson was on hand to recognize the winners.

Even before being officially elected to her position, Chelsea Mikel was already working to improve Sharon Township's voting procedures. Having won the 2012 August primary and running unopposed in the 2012 November election, she volunteered to help a neighboring township during the 2012 general election. This experience led her to later update the township to more current voter programs before running her first election in May 2013.

Sharon Township only has one voting precinct, located in the Township Hall. After her first election in May 2013, Mikel applied for and received an ADA Polling Place Improvement Grant. With this grant, the parking area and entrance to the hall were renovated, making the hall more ADA accessible. Work needed at the hall didn’t stop there. Restrooms in the hall were not handicap accessible; the hall was infested with rodents and bats; and, the lack of insulation in the hall caused high heating and cooling bills. With the support of her board and the community, Mikel oversaw $180,000 in renovations and completion of the improvements before the 2014 general election. Throughout the process, she was pregnant with her third child. Read an article HERE about renovations.

In her efforts to create a more transparent township government, Mikel also reviewed the filing system and accounting procedures. She converted numerous paper files into an electronic system. Next, she updated the township’s accounting system to Quick Books, hired a certified public accountant, and implemented an electronic payroll system. Finally, she secured board approval to hire a new firm for the biennial audit and approval to pay recurring bills upon receipt, rather than wait for the monthly board meeting and risk late payments.

On the job, she discovered there were few, if any, records on Sharon Township’s three cemeteries. Mikel initiated plans to map the cemeteries, update records and create procedures for burials. Her objectives were threefold: improve cemetery records and procedures, preserve the township’s history, and promote respect for the deceased and their families.

Mikel realized there is no easy method to learning the role of clerk. To advance her professional knowledge, she enrolled the Michigan Township Association, the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks and the Washtenaw County Clerks Association, as well as in training provided by the Bureau of Elections. When Mikel joined the Washtenaw County Clerks Association, she became the first Sharon Township Clerk to be a member in decades.