New parks, zoning changes and business ribbon cuttings: the public sees the results of city council action all the time. They may not, however, know who is behind the work. Effective city council meetings don’t happen by accident.

It’s the local government clerk who keeps everything moving. They are responsible for so many of the tasks crucial to the council's ability to govern and the city's ability to serve its residents.

Let’s take a closer look at a (fictional) local government clerk’s typical day for insight into how this pivotal role plays a part in the council’s work and local quality of life.

 Kerry Smith turns into the city hall parking lot and gets a great space at this time of the morning. There’s a little buffer before the hall doors open and today’s visitors start streaming in; it’s a great time of the day to get ahead of her work. She emerges from the car holding her laptop bag in one hand and a travel mug of coffee in the other.

Walking to the front door, she already has a good sense of what to expect. The city council meeting is tonight, so she is prepared for a long day with a lot of moving parts. As the city clerk, Kerry plays an essential role in preparing for and managing the meeting. She makes sure city leaders and staff have all the information they need to ensure the meeting runs smoothly and the council can make informed decisions.

She also maintains transparency while keeping the public informed about the council’s actions and ensures the city is complying with state open meetings laws and other procedures and requirements mandated by law.

 After chatting for a few minutes with the front desk receptionist and other coworkers, Kerry heads to her desk and checks her calendar and email. A council member is seeking clarification on an amendment to a bylaw for tonight’s meeting. The parks and recreation director is inquiring about whether new information on costs is reflected in the updated budget. A local journalist has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request about last month’s meeting. Kerry replies, directing them to the city’s public transparency website where they can review all past open session meetings and minutes. Thankfully, that goes quickly.

[quote image] "Transparency is about building trust within our community. By providing information at their fingertips, we empower our citizens to engage and stay informed about city activities." Gladis Sanchez, City Secretary, City of Pearland

Kerry creates a checklist to prioritize her tasks, including starting work on updating the strategic plan following the council’s directives.

 Her travel mug now empty, Kerry joins a meeting with the city manager about upcoming items for next month's meeting, including some zoning changes and budget development for next year. Although the items are relatively straight-forward, there is a lot of information, and it will take a collaborative effort to build. She knows that she can take advantage of the Workflow feature that accompanies the board solution’s agenda building feature to add items that need to go on next month’s agenda. She’ll post them to their board management software for the members to read before the next meeting.

 It’s not a great day for a lunch break. Kerry and a couple of colleagues order lunch so she has some wiggle room to ensure she is ready for tonight’s meeting. She must also begin the preparation process for the next meeting. It’s on her to prepare minutes that accurately reflect the council’s discussions and decisions, so Kerry gets her meeting minutes template ready. Once tonight’s meeting is done, she’ll finalize the minutes for the council to approve at the next meeting, and these will be posted to the city’s secure website, making them accessible and searchable to the public.

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 Kerry meets with two new council members and conducts a brief training on the board management software. She walks them through how to access documents, use the search feature, conduct online voting and review charters as well as other pertinent information located in the library. Kerry enjoys the chance to work directly with council members. Being a resource and helping council members feel confident in their roles are among her favorite parts of the job.

Kerry confirms again that the agenda is accessible to the public. She enthusiastically takes advantage of the Public Release Delay setting in her board management software based on her state's open meeting law requirements. The council clerk must stay on top of local, state and federal Open Meeting requirements associated with the city’s public facing meetings. Kerry and her counterparts are on the front line of ensuring the city and the council remain transparent, accessible and compliant.

 With a council meeting scheduled for 6 p.m., Kerry spends the late afternoon in discussion with IT, Legal and others who have a role in preparing for the meeting. She works with IT to verify that all audio and tech requirements are in place and working, and the livestreaming service is ready to go. She places water bottles and nameplates neatly at each council member’s seat. Kerry remembers when she had to create hard copies, bind and deliver the voluminous meeting packets to each council member. Those days are long over.

“With Diligent Community, Carbondale can livestream its meetings directly to its website to appear alongside the agenda, while a digital timer ensures each speaker gets the allotted three minutes of speaking time. After the meeting, the meeting recording appears alongside the timestamped meeting minutes.” Jessica Markham, Town Clerk, Town of Carbondale

 Kerry doublechecks the software to see how many people have signed up ahead of time to speak during the public comment period. Depending on the topics discussed, council meetings are usually well attended with community members, business owners and oftentimes the press. She sees several requests to address the council about a contested zoning change and approves those requests, which will in turn automatically become part of her minutes.

After she’s completed preparations, she grabs a quick sandwich and heads back to city hall in time to greet everyone attending the council meeting. She also ensures that any documents that will require signatures post-meeting are ready to go. She’s grateful for the sign and adopt feature on her board management software which provides the option to apply signatures to the minutes directly within the solution.

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As the meeting begins, Kerry sits at the staff table, laptop open. She takes roll, records minutes and notates voting results. While she takes her own notes, the board software’s AI notetaker is also recording and transcribing the speakers. She’s glad for the AI backup when she attends to a couple of technical issues: a slide presentation that won’t display properly and a muted mic during the public speaking period.

 The meeting adjourns. As the council members and staff leave the boardroom, Kerry checks to see that everything is turned off and put away. Maintenance staff come to pick up empty water bottles.

She walks to her car with two of her colleagues and heads home. Tomorrow, she’ll use the meeting minutes template to help write up draft minutes to put in the board management software for the council’s review when the next agenda packet is released and, once approved, subsequent publication to the public website. Kerry is tired but happy after another successful council meeting cycle. It’s good to know she’s making a difference.

“The conduct of government employees and elected officials is a reflection of the government body as a whole. As such, it is vital that the decisions and behaviors of government employees and elected officials result in transparency, accountability and impartiality. Government employees and elected officials have a social responsibility to ensure they remain trusted public servants.” Lisa Frederick, City Clerk/Deputy City Administrator, City of Clinton

Clerks are at the heart of good governance

Clerks like Kerry are the backbone of effective governance. They keep the city compliant, organized and transparent. The clerk’s role is multifaceted and expands a broad range of responsibilities, all essential.

The local government clerk’s recordkeeping helps to protect the city legally. Their agenda preparation and meeting management allow for orderly, productive discussions. Their handling of public records and communications helps maintain the community’s trust. They also play a key role in ensuring policies are kept up to date and made accessible to public stakeholders.

Technology can effectively support the clerk in their role, helping to streamline many of these processes, help them keep their city compliant and on track to meet their strategic goals.

How Diligent Community can help support local government clerks

Diligent Community is a cloud-based software solution specifically designed for local governments. It provides a secure, centralized platform for local government clerks to manage all their tasks. It can save time, improve accuracy and reduce the risk of errors. It enhances administrative processes, streamlines communication and improves overall efficiency for the entire governance team.

We at Diligent understand the role the local governance clerk plays and the many challenges they face throughout their day. We’re here to help. 

 of Diligent Community today to see how it can save valuable time while supporting your town.

A day in the life of a local government clerk

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Livestreaming public meetings is one of the easiest ways to increase transparency and build trust with your community. This month we explore 

how livestreaming helps bring people into the process and even to your district or municipality

 — and shows your board or council is committed to open, accessible governance.

 help walk you through the basics, from choosing the right tech to promoting your meeting stream to staying compliant.

Build trust and transparency with your public website

you get with Diligent Community makes transparency and building trust much easier. It gives your community quick access to meeting agendas, minutes, and policies, plus tools to search, sign up for updates, request to speak, and follow livestreams — all in one place. It’s a smart way to boost engagement and show your commitment to open governance.

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Glenbrook High School District 225 took a big step toward increased transparency by using Diligent Community’s Livestream Manager to make board meetings more accessible and engaging. With streaming, easy access to agendas and minutes all linked to their user-friendly website, they’ve built stronger connections with their community and made it easier for stakeholders to stay informed and involved.

“Directly within a single tool, we’re able to pass a policy through the collaboration and editing process, routing process and have digital documentation… all with one click.” – Dr R.J. Gravel, Superintendent

This July, we’re celebrating our incredible colleagues for 

. We thank them for their dedication to creating vibrant, healthy and connected communities. From maintaining beautiful green spaces to organizing inclusive programs, their work brings joy and well-being to people of all ages. Thank you for all you do — you help make our communities thrive!

Congratulations to Dr Audrey Young from the Texas State Board of Education! Learn why Audrey is being recognized this month as one of our 

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Leading with purpose podcast: Practical tips for purpose-driven work

We have just launched our first podcast! We’re starting with the topic of board development and we interviewed two education leaders who shared their expert advice. Listen to Dr. Audrey Young, Chair of the Committee on Instruction for the Texas State Board of Education and Ben Niehaus, Director of Member Services for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards 

 series, we are excited to highlight a dedicated member of our Diligent Community team who is here to support you.

Madison Mallon, an Account Manager, joined the team in September 2024 and has quickly made a strong impression through her thoughtful communication and drive to deliver meaningful results.

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Boost trust with livestreamed meetings, celebrating National Parks and Recreation Month, and more

AI is no longer the exclusive domain of tech giants. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), GenAI presents a powerful opportunity to drive efficiency, innovation, and smarter decision-making — without needing large-scale budgets or in-house data science teams.

To better understand how SMEs can unlock the potential of GenAI, Diligent Institute partnered with the Institute of Directors (IoD) to survey 60 UK-based directors. The result? A concise, actionable infographic that outlines the top challenges, opportunities, and best practices for integrating GenAI into your business strategy.

Whether you're just starting your AI journey or looking to scale your efforts, this visual guide offers a roadmap to responsible, effective adoption.

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Poll finds boards struggling to navigate Washington

As tariffs, inflation and sourcing disruptions grow, a new poll finds America’s public-company boardrooms fighting to manage the moment. ‘You can't forecast anything.’

 in Q2, according to the most recent Director Confidence Index, conducted by Diligent Institute and Corporate Board Member, but that doesn’t mean America’s board members are breathing easy. Our latest polling finds the director community remains deeply concerned about the economic impact of the Trump administration’s policies, prompting new approaches to risk oversight in America’s boardrooms.

The extent of the impact from the current administration is extensive. Directors rate the current risk level for U.S. companies at 6.8 out of 10, on a scale where 1 is Negligible and 10 is Significant, with 81 percent of the 126 public company board members polled May 12-14 listing tariffs as the top business risk today.

Second on the list? A tie at 46 percent between two other Washington-created challenges: “supply chain / sourcing disruptions” and “inflation and currency fluctuations” (the survey asked directors to list their top three challenges). The third and fourth picks were D.C.-driven as well: geopolitics and regulatory changes.

“You can't forecast anything in this uncertain environment,” added Joseph R. Bronson, a director on the board of Nasdaq-traded PDF Solutions. “We're doing what we can to deal with this mess created by the White House.”

To cope, directors want to increase the frequency of their board’s strategy and risk conversations (42 percent) and making better use of new AI tools for real-time data and risk analysis (35 percent).

“These two answer options are inherently related,” says Dottie Schindlinger, Executive Director of the Diligent Institute and partner in this research. “As boards recognize the need for more frequent conversations about risk and strategy in the current environment, having access to the real-time data and analysis to support those conversations is crucial.”

Overall, 47 percent say they are engaging in scenario planning to help navigate the current environment—the most common tactic selected by those participating in the survey. Other approaches include diversifying supply chains, revising pricing models and strengthening financial reserves.

“While the highest tariffs keep getting kicked down the road 90-days, that's not a long enough interval for businesses to plan, and there is still no clear trade policy,” said one director.

Still, boards and their companies remain committed to pursuing growth as planned this year. Nearly half (48 percent) said their priority for the rest of the year remains growth—through M&A, new products and new markets. Slightly more than a third said their priority was risk mitigation, including reforecasting, scenario planning and diversification.

“More boards are realizing that uncertainty is the new norm and that many elements driving this uncertainty have been experienced in the past,” said Brian Kushner, who serves on the board of Resideo Technologies, adding: “Just not all at the same time.”

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