International Exchange of Municipal Clerks: Middletown, Monmouth , NJ, USA & District Delfshaven, City of Rotterdam, The

Name Heidi R. Brunt Claudia Ramos Age 38 38 Position Municipal Clerk City-County -State Middletown-Monmouth- Delfshaven-Rotterdam-Zuid Holland Budget Middletown: $65 mil / Monmouth $ 4.8 bil Delfshaven €45 ($56)mil / Rotterdam: €3,5 ($4,6) bil Inhabitance 68,000 74,000 City Slogan Biggest Small Town in NJ No hyperbole! Play to the result and show what you're worth Constitution based Republic Monarchy Hero George Washington Johan Rudolph Thorbecke Coffee Skim Cappuccino grande Caramel Latte Macchiato tall Staff Yes Yes Pen preference Black gel thick point Blue ball point

Introduction In the 2014 IIMC International Exchange Heidi Brunt and Claudia Ramos were matched. Heidi is a Municipal Clerk in Middletown New Jersey in the of America and Claudia is a Municipal Clerk at the district of Delfshaven, one of the 14 district in the city of Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

The work environment and mentality of the two Clerks are comparable, i.e. the city’s have almost the same numbers of inhabitants and size and even the total budgets are appromaxitelythe same. The two clerks are both very ambitious, of the same age, mother of one child, have been married for five years and they share the same view on their responsibilities in the work environment and functional position.

The Clerks agreed that they would really like to experience the life of someone with the same profession on another continent. With the full support of their families the Clerks decided to make an effort and chose to be a part of a three week exchange program during both municipal elections. The elections were in March 2014 in The Netherlands and in November 2014 in the United States. During the whole program the Clerks stayed at each others home and became a part of their respective families.

Background Information

International Exchange of Municipal Clerks: Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ, USA & District Delfshaven, City of Rotterdam, The Netherlands Claudia I have been working for the of Rotterdam since 1998. I have been a Municipal Clerk since 2009 for the district council of Delfshaven. My office has two staff members or more depending on the project we are working on. We have two governing bodies, the Board Council which counts 25 members (seven political parties) and the Township Committee which has three full time members and an Administrator. Both political bodies have an appointment for district Chair which is like an extension of the Mayor of the city of Rotterdam. In the Netherlands the Municipal Clerk’s profession is not that old. The profession was first designated in local government in 2002. The profession was introduced by Municipal Law called “Dualism”. Dualism is a political science understanding which indicates the division between governance and representatives.

Clerk’s Position in the Organization in Delfshaven The Clerk is appointed by the district council as their first advisor and supporter. The Municipal Clerk has a legal, secretarial, administrative, logistic and communicative task. The Municipal Clerk falls directly under the responsibility of the district board council. By law, the Municipal Clerk has a parallel position with the district Administrator. The Administrator is officially responsible for the content and reports to the Township Committee.

Heidi In the past 13 years as a public employee, 11 of them have been with the Township of Middletown as the Municipal Clerk. I have six employees or more during the busiest time of the year with elections or permit renewals. The governing body is a Township Committee of five with an appointed Mayor each year. Middletown is a old settlement in New Jersey dating back to 1664 and we just marked our 350th anniversary this year with a year long celebration.

The origins of the position of "clerk" are unclear. In ancient Greece there were secretaries for each polis who read official documents publicly and at the opening of a meeting read public messages. The early keepers of the archives were often called remembrancers, and before writing came into use, their memory was public record. When the early colonists came to America, one of the first offices established was that of clerk. The colony at Plymouth appointed a person to act as a recorder.

Clerks Position in the Organization in New Jersey The Township Clerk has responsibilities required by N.J. State Statutes which include acting as the secretary to the governing body, custodian of records, administering local elections, and the issuing of licenses and permits. Residents may seek guidance from the Office of the Clerk for various services.

Foundation of our Profession The history and the foundation of a country gives you an insight on culture and mentality of its inhabitants. The information will help you to empathize and to have a pretty good view on situations and the daily work of the municipality even politically.

International Exchange of Municipal Clerks: Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ, USA & District Delfshaven, City of Rotterdam, The Netherlands The Dutch Constitution The Batavian-French period (1795-1813) led to radical changes and for the first time an elected Parliament met in the17 hundereds . After 1813 the Netherlands became a monarchy under the House of Orange. The Parliament, the and the House should have a say in the governance and cabinet members conducted the policy. In many cases, the King had the last word. The liberal Thorbecke was responsibe for the new Constitution of the Netherlands which was implemented/ introduced in 1848. The cabinet members were now responsible for legislation and policy, Parliament checked them. The King stayed on as head of state, but he stood outside the political decision making; He was inviolable. These principles form the basis of the present Dutch Democracy.

The American Constitution The US Constitution is based on some principles that were considered in the thinking of the Enlightenment important: popular sovereignty (Rousseau) separation of powers () board by law or 'government by law' (Locke) state order based on Federalism and the Anglo-Saxon tradition in public administration.

The US reveres their Nations Founding Father George Washington. A farmer, inventor, father, husband and General then our country’s first President. After the Revolutionary War with England, President Washington served two terms as President, then stepped down showing the country we didn't want a monarch system anymore and we should give the people a choice.

“The love of my Country will be the ruling influence of my conduct” George Washington

We share Montesquieu One of the similar principles in this matter is that both constitutions are based on separation of powers (Montesquieu). By visiting the New Jersey State House our contact, an Attorney for the Governor, gave Claudia an insight on how things are organized on state level. One of the issues he mentioned was the fact that, just like in the Netherlands, the Dutch judges are appointed by the head of the state and the appointment is for life (until the age of 70). In the Netherlands the head of the state will be the King and in the state of New Jersey, the Governor. Based on the Montesquieu philosophy, the judge’s job is to interpret the law.

Program and Learning Goals

Records Imaging and Disaster Response Heidi wanted to pursue the process of a record imaging and management system. It was important for her to discover new ways to attend to the records and how to grow in the future.

Heidi was introduced to District Administrator Hilbert Keizer and had a tour to see how he was able to work “in the cloud” and manage their

International Exchange of Municipal Clerks: Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ, USA & District Delfshaven, City of Rotterdam, The Netherlands imaging of records. In the Netherlands they have truly developed a paperless environment. Desks are empty of files and reports, and mail is opened and imaged appropriately before it lays on an employee's desk. By working “in the cloud” and having this advanced imaging workflow, employees can access their computer desktop and files from anywhere even here in the United States.

In the program schedule we were able to attend a presentation by the Safety Region of Rotterdam Director on Disaster Response for the city. The Director was able to describe the city’s region for disaster response. The goals of the safety region were spelled out as to improve protection for inhabitants against safety risks, improve the assistance offered during and after incidents, hazards and crisis, and to improve fire prevention. In addition to fire prevention, medical assistance at accidents and disasters, risk management and centralized regional crisis management; increase overall managerial and operational performance. The Netherlands is divided into 25 safety regions of which Rotterdam-Rijnmond is number seventeen. This region inhabits 1.2 million people and is complex based on its large urban areas and a world port.

During the discussion of the disaster plan for the region, Heidi spoke about recent US disasters such as hurricane Katrina, 9/11, and Superstorm Sandy. The safety region has learned from those incidents, as far as the importance of communication among the emergency services and the response time. They also communicate to the public using many various TV, radio, internet, and phone communications. Rotterdam-Rijnmond has also created many alliances with public broadcasting, public transport, and Ministry of Defense, Royal Dutch Rescue Service, health services, the drinking water company, and the energy company. These agreements are important to allow for seamless cooperation during a disaster.

Elections In the Netherlands there has been electronic voting in the year 2006. Since there has been some wireless security issues as a result they formed a special committee on Federal level investigating the matter. The committee is called the “Van Beek committee”. In the year 2018 (the elections are once in four years) The Netherlands will vote electronically again. The Administration of the elections are the responsibility of the Township Committee meaning that the Administrator has the leading role to organize and facilitate the elections. In many cases the Clerk is standby during the elections, in the event that something happens to the Administrator. As mentioned previously, the Municipal Clerk only works for the board. The Clerk has a leading role in facilitating the process of the certifying of the election results (which is done by the Mayor) and the negotiations of the political parties.

International Exchange of Municipal Clerks: Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ, USA & District Delfshaven, City of Rotterdam, The Netherlands In Middletown, NJ, USA they have been using electronic voting since 2006. The machines are electronic by way of pushing buttons to vote and the voting data is then saved on a cartridge that is later brought to the Municipal Clerk. The cartridge is similar to the size of an 8-track tape from the 1960’s. Its purpose is so they can have the voting data from the machines in the form of results in an expedited manner. When the cartridges are delivered by poll workers to the Municipal Clerk’s office they are read by inserting them in cartridge readers to upload the results to the County Clerk and the County Website for unofficial results. This process should take about one hour in Middletown, since we have 92 cartridges to read for 46 election districts. Elections take place twice a year at minimum in NJ and the Township Committee members are in staggered terms for 3 years. There is a Primary Election for both Republican and Democrat parties to choose who their candidate will be. Then Middletown has a general election to elect the candidates to the Township Committee seats available. Middletown is hopeful in the future this system will work flawlessly and will be able to continue to use the electronic voting.

One of the major differences which the clerks found important to share is the fact that in The Netherlands there is a special committee, called the Credentials Committee. This committee is in charge of examining the legality of the elections. The determination is done by the Mayor in the Netherlands and in the State of New Jersey by the County Clerk or Court of Law. The major difference is that the determination in the state of NJ is made by a non-political body. In the Netherlands, the Committee is also in charge of the credentials of the board council and township members the Municipal Clerk assisted and accompanies the committee. The Committee has an advisory role for the board council.

Clerk’s Chit Chat

Getting the Job Done Where there are a lot of different views on situations there inevitably will be problems. The Clerk’s discussed situations where politicians don’t get along on a personal or political level with other politicians. These situations can really affect the meetings and it is difficult to get anything done as a Clerk. Heidi says in these situations she becomes “The BBB” (By the Book Brunt), meaning that she will do and answer precisely what the law says.

Management Skills Heidi and Claudia share various management styles and agree upon the treatment of staff and using the Clerk’s flexibility in order to correct and motivate the staff. However, while “managing up” this becomes a larger challenge that most Clerk’s can agree. It can be difficult trying to manage the demands of a governing body, Administrator, and other professionals. In this instance, it’s good to show a great amount of organization and confidence while speaking knowledgeably about the subjects. Without these skills there most likely will be no respect for your competence. The Clerks also agree that we have to think from outside the organization looking in like the governing body does.

The Clerks talked about their ways of managing the staff and applying situational leadership. They agreed on the fact that everyone is not treated the same and that the manager should adjust to the individual staff member and its needs in order to perform at optimum levels. Both Clerks

International Exchange of Municipal Clerks: Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ, USA & District Delfshaven, City of Rotterdam, The Netherlands agreed on the fact that the best way in order to motivate the staff and create a safe environment is to demonstrate confidence and tell the staff members the truth and build on their self-esteem. This happens by invisibly facilitating and adjusting yourself to the different personalities, and approaching every staff member differently.

When Heidi was approached by one of the staff members during the busy election night to discuss the staff members working hours, Heidi took the time to talk this over with this staff member. A example of the individual approach of different personalities on staff. .Both Clerks are very open about what they want and they don’t hesitate to share this with their staff. They both like sharing successes with the team and compliment them often. Heidi will tell the applicants at the interview what she expects from her staff. They must be confidential, come to work on time, complete their tasks and come to the elections at night. If mistakes are made, they should to be honest about them and she will do everything within her power to resolve the matter.

Sharing our Souvenirs Recently the Township of Middletown has invested in recodification of the Administrative Code and Land Use. In this venture Middletown has begun using an app that allows the public to refer to the Township Code quickly and efficiently and have search capabilities all at your fingertips. As it turns out the City of Antwerp where Claudia works half of her time, is very interested in the App. Heidi has approached the codification company to ascertain their interests in going international.

In addition Heidi has brought back to Middletown the idea of a cloud system and imagining system that will lead to a paperless environment in the future. This will involve a confidential mail room and imaging of day forward instead of paper filing.

Personal Blog Claudia “ The Keeper of Democracy”

Walking around Mount Vernon and the Capitol and seeing how proud the Americans are of General George Washington, the Father of our Country (as the Americans call him) got me thinking. The principles and foundation of this nation are a given fact in the genes of the Americans. Until this day the Americans will proudly defend these principles, even if it cost their lives. It’s pretty amazing to see how determined the Americans are and have been. “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness”, George Washington

The Municipal Clerks profession is the oldest profession in the history of the United States. Even General George Washington had one. The quarters of George Washington’s Clerk had all these archives, books, a desk and even the quill which is our computer nowadays. So since the 18th century the Municipal Clerks profession is one of great honor and filled with history. What I actually

International Exchange of Municipal Clerks: Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ, USA & District Delfshaven, City of Rotterdam, The Netherlands tell you, is that this profession is one of great honor and is not to be taken lightly. I used to joke with Heidi and compare the Clerks profession with a Genie, in the name of democracy and by the book, we will make it happen!

Personal Blog Heidi Brunt “ Rich in History”

The people of the Netherlands have an amazing history and live it every day. It is not something we Americans can fully understand. Everyday the Dutch people can look down the street and walk in the footsteps of their ancestors from the 1400’s. Buildings still standing in Delfshaven leaning with time. In Rotterdam you see the proud efficient design of the city with bike paths walking paths and roads all working as one. Mothers riding a bike with two children in tow as a matter of daily life just like their early traditions. When Americans think history, ours goes back to the colonies and Christopher Columbus, then perhaps we look back at our ancestry and it finds us across the ocean in most cases. Being in the Netherlands shows me that our time here is precious and what we leave for the future of our country is so important. It has a great impact on how our

children and our children’s children will live one day. To put it in a little perspective, Rotterdam was founded in the year 690; Middletown just turned 350 years old from 1664. We have to look at what we want our legacy to be and what kind of Middletown we will leave behind.

Special Thanks

Claudia I would like to thank The IIMC and Denice Cox for this amazing opportunity. Denice, you have to be pretty good at your job and have a tremendous instinct in order to have made such an amazing match.

I would like to thank the Brunt family for making me a part of their family for the whole three weeks and sharing the attention of mom and wife Heidi. Even though I didn’t notice I know it’s not easy having to share your house for 3 weeks 24 hours a day.

The staff members of the Middletown, New Jersey you guys are great and an amazing team, thank you so much for the warm welcome, the laughers and for sharing your knowledge and even personal time with me.

International Exchange of Municipal Clerks: Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ, USA & District Delfshaven, City of Rotterdam, The Netherlands

I would like to thank Jaap Paans who is the Region IX director and my supervisor since March 2014. Thank you for your support, leading by example, and trust.

Then last but certainly not least, Heidi, you did such an amazing job on the program. I am overwhelmed with all the effort you made in order to have a great program filled with education and such fabulous valuable experience, great program which taught me so much of such a great learning experience and insight in the American political system I enjoyed every moment and you really touched my heart. You are an extraordinary woman with great potential I pray that all your career dreams will be forfilled. Keep on doing what you’re doing and always trust your guts!

Heidi I would like to also thank Denice Cox and the IIMC for affording us this amazing adventure and educational opportunity. We could not have done this without your guidance, financing, and confidence in our ability to benefit from this international experience. I would also like to thank Jaap Paans for all your support for Claudia and I in the Netherlands and abroad.

I would also like to thank my Mayor and Township Committee for allowing me to take advantage of this program through the IIMC and letting me bring back many valuable lessons I have learned to Middletown. I would also like to thank my staff, without all of you there would have been NO WAY to go to the Netherlands for three weeks and come back to a fully functioning office that I could not have done it better myself. Thank you to my husband, daughter and family for keeping things running at home. And most of all thank you Claudia, your family and friends were amazing teachers and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. The moment we met it was a lifelong friendship meant to be. I am at the end of the program but it’s just the beginning of a lifetime of education and friendship with my international sister and teacher. God Bless you Claudia.