FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2015
CONTACT: Susan Norton
Director of Communications
479-575-8330
snorton@fayetteville-ar.gov
Fayetteville City Clerk Treasurer Receives Statewide Award
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Sondra E. Smith received the Municipal Clerk of the Year Award today, June 26, 2015, at the 81st Arkansas Municipal League Convention in Little Rock.
The Municipal Clerk of the Year Award is presented to a member of the Arkansas City Clerks, Recorders and Treasurers Association (ACCRTA) who has made significant contributions to the objective of the municipal clerk’s profession, to the improvement of municipal government, and to the clerk’s own community.
City Clerk Treasurer Sondra E. Smith has been an employee of the City of Fayetteville since 2002. She was appointed as City Clerk Treasurer in February 2003 and then elected in 2004. Upon taking office, Smith immediately became involved in the ACCRTA, attending as many training sessions as possible. She has served the ACCRTA as District Director, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, and President.
Smith currently serves on the Firemen’s Pension and Relief Fund Board of Trustees, the Policemen’s Pension and Relief Fund Board of Trustees, the Arkansas Municipal League Workers’ Compensation Trust Board of Trustees, and has previously served on the Arkansas Municipal League Large First Class Cities Advisory Board.
Smith’s philosophy of transparent government led her to develop and implement a records retention schedule and document management system. She instituted webcasting of City Council and committee meetings, and implemented electronic document routing system in addition to an electronic notification system for the media and citizens.
As Fayetteville’s City Clerk Treasurer, Smith’s responsibilities include updating and maintaining a portion of the City’s website, the City’s Policy and Procedure Manual, and the Code of Ordinances. Smith and her staff in the Fayetteville City Clerk Office process a minimum of 107 agendas and 34 minutes annually. In 2014, the City Clerk Office processed 339 passed ordinances and resolutions, 155 applications for 83 board and committee vacancies, 1,472 meeting room reservations, and two policy and procedure changes. In the past three years, 1.5 million documents have been scanned into the City archives by the City Clerk Office.
Smith received the Adrian White Municipal Leadership Award in 2014 and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Brotherhood Award in 2015.
PHOTO ATTACHED - CAPTION:
Sherri Gard, Ft. Smith City Clerk and President of the Association of Arkansas City Clerks, Recorders, and Treasurers presents Sondra Smith, Fayetteville City Clerk, the Municipal Clerk of the Year Award at the 81st Arkansas Municipal League Convention.
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