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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSherry Mashburn TranscriptionCity of College Station Heritage Programs Oral History Interviewee: Sherry Mashburn Interviewer: Brooke Linsenbardt Transcriber: Sheena Cox Date: July 6, 2017 Place: College Station, Texas Project: City Official and Employee 00:00: Brooke Linsenbardt (BL): My name is Brooke Linsenbardt. I am College Station’s Historic Records Archivist and the interviewer. It is 3:25pm on July 6, 2017. We are conducting the interview at City Hall, off Texas Avenue in College Station, Texas. (00:24): Sherry Mashburn (SM): I’m Sherry Mashburn. I’m the city secretary for the city of College Station. I am the interviewee. (00:31): Sheena Cox (SC): And I am Sheena Cox, Oral History Intern. (BL): Okay, to start the interview tell us when and where you were born. (00:40): (SM): Well, I was born down on the coast. I am a Texas, born and bred, in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1951. So, and I’m a Libra. (laughs) (BL): Tell us a little bit about your family history. (00:58): (SM): Okay. I’m a fourth generation public employee. My father worked for the City of Port Arthur. My grandfather and great grandfather both worked for the city of Orange, which is part of that golden triangle down there on the coast. I’m Cajun by birth. And my mother’s from East Texas so, you can’t get much more redneck and country than that, than an East Texas Cajun, so. (BL): What did your parents do? (01:28): (SM): Well my father worked for the city of Port Arthur, he was in the water department. Had all the licenses, so he was a licensed water works person. My mother was a stay at home mom, which was really nice, and, wasn’t until I was in high school and in college that she started branching out and just working a little bit here and there, ya know as a secretary or whatever. (BL): What is your education background? (01:57): (SM): Well I do not have a college degree, I have some college, I’ve got I think right at 80 hours. Life got in the way, I did not finish. It’s one of those things that I would like to go back and finish, I, I might be that 91 year old baccalaureate. So. But I do have my certifications. I’m a Texas registered Municipal Clerk for the state of Texas. I am also a Master Municipal Clerk through the international Institute of Municipal Clerks. I am also a, uh, a parliamentarian. I have a, I’m a board, board certified tax examiner. And I’m also a professional in Human Resources. (BL): Lots of, lots of hats there. How did you become interested in public service and the city secretary position? (02:52): (SM): Well, my family having worked in, for the cities growing up and knowing all about it, that just seemed to me a way to give to the community so I was always interested in public service itself. And when I started with the city of Katy as the tax accessor collector, the city secretary there at that time, she was just very impressive. She was very knowledgeable, she was always calm, no matter what was going on, she was just, she knew what she was doing, she was very calm. And I remember thinking “I wanna be just like Virginia.” And so when the opportunity came for me to actually be a city secretary I was excited about it. It’s not the kind of profession that a little girl dreams of, you know “when I grow up, I’m gonna be a City Secretary,” but, when you’re in an organization like the city, and you see what that City Secretary does and what their responsibilities are, and the impact they have on the community, it’s a no brainer. (BL): That’s great. So you mentioned a little bit about your past position, but can you go into your past positions and responsibilities at other, other cities? (04:02): (SM): Okay, well first of all the city of Katy, and I said that I started there as a tax accessor collector. Actually I started as a permit clerk. And, and then left. And then when the an opening came up for the tax accessor collector position, I took that position, and really enjoyed it. It was again, public service so I felt like I was doing some good for my community. Then I, there was a divorce. I’m, I, I’m not a person who adjusted well to change back in the day. But I got divorced so I packed up my kids and I moved to Austin. I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have any friends, I didn’t have any family. That was a huge risk for me, personally. And I went to work, found, with a delinquent tax attorney there in Austin. Worked there for several years, and got married. And um, was not happy where I was I was losing IQ points literally, and so, a position came up in the paper for the village of Bee Cave for City Secretary. And I said something to my husband about that and he said “You should go for it.” And I said, “I don’t have the qualifications,” he said “Well you’re definitely not gonna get it if you don’t apply.” So I applied, and I got it. I, I was not their first choice. They had hired, eh, they had, I interviewed in April. They hired, they, they offered the position to someone else, and then the end of May there was a, a tornado in the town where this City Secretary was coming from. And so she called up Bee Cave and said “I need to stay here to help my community,” and that’s what I mean about public service. She put her community before self. And so, they called me up and said “Are you still interested?” And when I met with the council, I told ‘em that “I was not their first choice, but I was definitely their best choice.” So I got the job. I was there for eight years. Great little community, it, it grew very, very quickly while I was there. And it was a nice sense of accomplishment that I helped in the growth of that city. Then I received a phone call from the city of San Marcos. I was very happy where I was, was not looking for work. And they called me and asked if I would be interested in applying for the position there. They had been looking for a city secretary for eighteen months. And they could not get anybody to come in. And they said that Mary Lynne Stratta, who is the City Secretary in Bryan, here, had recommended me. So I thought, well, it doesn’t hurt to apply. You know. So I went in and that interview process was the most fun I’ve ever had on an interview process, it was a lot of fun. (SC): Why? Just Curious (06:51): (SM): Yeah, it was very different. I walk in and they took me to a room. And there was a, a box, full, I mean full, of papers. And there was a phone, and there was pen, and there was sticky notes. And I was to, go through this stack, and put notes on there as to what I was gonna do with them. And then while, and they gave me I think 45 minutes to go through this stack. And of course, the phone would ring and I’d have to answer it and deal with whatever that was going on. And somebody would walk in and interrupt me and ask me to do something. And so, I told you Mary Lynne Stratta had recommended me for the position, and Mary Lynne is known for her, her skills in delegating. So I would pick up a piece of paper and write delegate, delegate, delegate. I was the only interviewee who finished the entire box. Of course I didn’t delegate everything, some stuff I actually said, “This is what I would do.” But I was the only interviewee who ever completed everything in the box. So then after that. (Laughs). After that they, they took me in for a panel interview, and it was the city, the management team. And, um they asked me all kinds of questions. One of the things that a city secretary had to do there is you had to read the agenda captions before each item of business. So I had to read out loud one of the agendas. The person who was doing the interim there was not a good reader out loud and so they needed somebody that could speak clearly. And then they did some role playing, they brought in some, they hired some actors from Texas State University to come in, and be irate customers. And I had to deal with these irate customers. Uh the, one of the things was I soothed one man by offering him a plate of homemade cookies. (Laughs). So. I had nothing to lose, I had a great job, I was happy where I was, so I was just having fun with this. And then, I left to go to, to dinner. And then when I came back, I had to interview with the council. And so that was an executive session and I interviewed with the council. And one of the other things that you had to do there is you had to do what’s called a roll call vote, where I’d call the council member’s name and they, they would state their vote, and so on. I, these were names I’d never seen before. And it was, ya know, there, uh, Tomites. Well I was saying it everyway but Tomites. And so finally they said well, “We’re going to pass around a sheet of paper and we’re going to write our names phonetically.” And so they did that, and I was cracking up because one of the council members name was Couch, and she wrote SOFA. (Laughs). I was there only two and a half years. And then my father passed away, and I wanted to be closer to my mom. And two weeks after my dad’s funeral, Connie Hooks, the City Secretary here in College Station announced her retirement. And that would put me much, much closer to my mom. And so I applied for this position and was able to get it. And so, I’ve been here, it’ll be seven years this month. So. That’s my history. (BL): Yeah. So speaking of the City Secretary position, can you provide a quote “day in the life” of a city secretary? (10:27): (SM): Herding feral cats. (Laughs). You know, an, and I say that jokingly, but it’s true, I mean, I have to deal with seven, I’m talking about the council, the mayor and council. Seven distinct personalities, with different agendas, with different likes and dislikes, and I have to treat them all fair, fairly and equally. In addition to that I’ve also got citizens who are walking in and you got one who’s upset because you’re rezoning something and then you’ve got this other citizen who’s upset because he, he’s for the rezoning, and you know so you’re dealing with all different types of personalities. It’s never boring. Even if the day is, ‘cause it’s the same thing that you do pretty much every day. You always have to get the agendas posted on time, you’ve gotta process this, you have to do that. But because of the different personalities involved it’s never the same, so it’s, you’re never bored. You know, its, I’ve never been bored on the job here. Ever. And I’ve prayed at times for a little boredom. But. (BL): I know we talked in our pre-interview meeting about your elevator speech, would you like to tell us a little bit about that? (11:39): (SM): Right, this was developed to help assist city secretaries to respond professionally when they were asked, “Oh, oh, what is a city secretary, and what do you do?” Because too many times that response back was, “Well um gee, I uh, I attend council meetings and I take minutes.” And we are so much more than that. And so we wanted to develop something that could actually convey to the, the, the city organization and to the community at large the true value of the profession, and what, what it is that we do, and so I would like to read that elevator speech to y’all if you don’t mind? (BL): Please. (12:16): (SM): Okay. (Reading from paper). Functioning much like the Secretary of State, the City Secretary is the local official who maintains the integrity of the election process, ensures transparency and access to city records, facilitates the city’s legislative process, and is the recorder of local government history. The City Secretary acts as the compliance officer for federal, state, and local statutes, including the Open Meetings Act and the Public Information Act, and serves as the filing authority for campaign finance reports and financial disclosure statements. And this. (BL): Impressive. (12:52): (SM): This was very, this was not only good for the community, but we have an, a lot of, I go to conferences now and I look out at that 250 attendees, and I don’t recognize them anymore. Because my age, we’re retiring, we’re leaving, and we’ve got new people coming up, who, who don’t, in a lot of cases, do not have a clue what a city secretary is or does. It’s their first professional job. Sometimes it’s their first job for a city so they don’t know anything about municipal government at all. So this helps them as well to understand what exactly their role is. (BL): Mm hmm, that’s, yeah, as I said it’s very impressive. So talking about, you said a lot of people your age are retiring, and so how has the perception of the position changed over time? (13:41): (SM): Okay. Well, pre-WWII, this position was typically held by males. And it was a very respected position. And it was, you were an official, a city official. During the war, more women were helping out, you know, in the effort by taking over these positions. And I don’t know if it’s, I’m not gonna lay blame anywhere, but al, it became more clerical, and it became more “I will get your coffee.” I will, you know, the, what we think of as a stereotypical secretary. You know she brings the coffee, she has the danish out there, she sets up stuff, that kind of thing. They weren’t seen as equal partners at the table. That’s changed in the last few years. Men are now coming back into the profession because they’re seeing it as a worthwhile profession. It’s not just, it’s not clerical. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that we are trying to make it known, like through the elevator speech, exactly what it is we do. You know, we have a class where we, when I start I’ll ask all the attendees, I said “Everyone, uh, who is a city official please raise your hand.” Well everyone in the audience should raise their hand, because we are appointed by the council and we are city officials. But they all think, the only city official is the Mayor and the Council. And so, that, it’s a learning process, and it’s getting better. Our certification program, our state certification program is the only one that’s named in the state constitution. You know, so it’s very well respected and highly regarded, and cities are recognizing that. And so they’re asking or demanding that their secretaries take that certification course. And it protects the city, it helps for risk and liability. And it just gives a whole sense of professionalism to the organization. (BL): Thank you. To I guess, to transition to some new topics. What is the City Secretary’s job, or since you’ve been in the city secretary’s position, um and then, the city secretary’s department, what is that relationship like with the city of Bryan? (16:10): (SM): Well, I, we’re very fortunate, um. Mary Lynne Stratta, who’s City Secretary over there, was my mentor. When I first started, in the profession. I was on the job two weeks, went to my first conference and met her. And so she took me under her wing, and, and helped bring me up. So we have a very close relationship to begin with. But, there, there can be some, conflict, because sometimes we’re going after the same business, you know for economic development. We’re trying to get the same, you know we’re both, we’re both competing for whatever, we’re talking about the cities as a whole. I think personally that the two cities get along very well. There’s sometimes when relationships can get a little but strained. But for the most part, I think we do work well department, from department to department we work very well together. You know and conflicts come when the political aspect of it is fighting for that same business prospect or whatever. (BL): What about the, I have two others, what about the relationship with Texas A&M? (17:19): (SM): When I was with San Marcos, we had a extremely close relationship with Texas State University. Uh, I spoke with the president, you know, on a weekly basis. We coordinated events together, we did a lot in that community, and I came here and it’s not that way. I think there’s been some moves forward to try to change that because, you know we’re, I’m sure you hear all of the, the things that some of our meetings where citizens complain about the student housing. The, the stealth dorms, that kind of thing. And we had that same problem in San Marcos, but we worked together with the university, and we haven’t really had that yet here. I think we’re making strides towards that. Uh, police department is trying to work with the community, we now have a student liaison that’s at our council meetings and has a voice, and he can speak. So I think it’s going to get better, but it’s going to be a process. (BL): Yeah. And then what about Brazos county? (18:17): SM): Great relationship with Brazos county. Um, we are, uh, city of Bryan, and the city of College Station are both local registrars. Which means anybody that’s born or dies in our cities, we’re the ones that record those births and deaths. City of, the Brazos county also does it for everything outside of the county. So we have a very good working relationship on that because sometimes we’ll have a question or a, or they will, or we get somebody suspect coming in and we’re afraid there’s going to be some fraud involved. And so we keep each other informed with what’s going on so that if they, if we can’t help them they don’t go to the city of Bryan or to Brazos County and try to get it from them. Because we’re all, we also have, all three of us, have the ability to get birth certificates from wherever within the U, within Texas. And so, if we refuse somebody here, we don’t want ‘em going to the county, to the Bryan and saying “Well it’s just closer for me to come here so I just need the birth certificate.” We want them to know, we didn’t issue it because. That kind of thing. They also, we contract with the county for our elections now. And so we work very, very closely with them. They conduct the election. We help them with the, training of the election workers. We’re there that night during canvas, er, when they’re um, on their tallying all the votes and everything, we’re there to help with that. So we work very, very well together, and we try to keep everybody on the same page. (BL): That’s good. So how did you or how does the City Secretary interact with city council members? (20:01): (SM): Uh, daily. Uh, we have a mayor now, he was elected in November, who’s very much more involved. You know, Mayor Barry was involved, but she didn’t necessarily do it out of City Hall. She did it from home or wherever. But Mayor Mooney, uses that office. So we have him here on a daily basis. Council members come to us for information. For assistance in research or whatever. And anything that we provide to one council member, we copy all council members so that everybody’s on the same page. And one council member doesn’t have a, a vital piece of information that no one else has. And so, we’ve got a very good relationship. This council recognizes the professionalism of the office. And so, they treat us with respect, and we try to do the same with them. (BL): Lots of communication (21:01): (SM): Lots of communication. Mm hmm. (BL): How has city growth effected your position in your department? (21:10): (SM): Well when I first came on board, we would go days, sometimes even weeks without an open records request. That’s not so true anymore. You know, its, its, we’re getting them every single day, and sometimes just so many that we can barely keep up with open records. So that’s a huge thing, of course our vital, vitals department. And the big thing that changed there was the, Scott and White hospital. And when the insurance changed, a lot of people that live in Bryan, but their insurance is for Scott and White. So we’ve got, they live in Bryan, but they were born in College Station. And so those have just jumped tremendously. So that keeps our vital records person very, very busy. Keeping up with all that. (BL): Can you explain what vital records are? (21:59): (SM): Okay, vital records are birth and death certificates. So. (BL): Thank you. Yeah I can imagine that change for that, with moving Scott and White there. So, we’re, we’re starting to wrap up some of the questions, but what accomplishments do you feel you had or the department had while you were. (22:24): (SM): While I was here? Here in College Station? (BL): Hmm-hmm. (22:28): (SM): Well the first thing is our records management program. When I first came on board the records were, in a mess. We had filing cabinets, I mean, vital records have to be in a place, sealed, locked away, where no one else can see, get to them. They were in the hallway, in a cabinet, where the lock had been drilled out. We had boxes of records in the break room. There was no organization. So the very first thing that I had to do when I came on board was I had to inventory every single piece of paper. And of course we, with records management you have a retention program. And so, I was able to get rid of things that had already met their retention and clean out a lot of stuff. Our copier, which is now in this little hallway, was in that big records room, which I needed for records and so I took that records room, and now it is, it’s locked. You can, no one is allowed in that room except for CS, for City Secretary staff. Period. And then of course, so that’s the hu-, the biggest accomplishment I feel. Also when I came on board, I, I’d been in the business long enough, and I, we had an election. And this lady, uh, this person was elected, and had no clue about municipal government. Didn’t understand why she couldn’t do some things. Didn’t understand why she had to do some oth-, some other things. And so I thought, I’m going to do, and then, and stated, “If I had known this, I never would have run.” So I thought “Hmm, okay.” (Laughs). “Gonna make my life easier.” So, we started the Council 101. And we provide this, you know, about two weeks before the filing period begins for an election. And this is an opportunity for them to, um. It’s a program that’s designed to help those potential candidates better understand, you know, their requirements, the duties, and the responsibilities of that office, as well as the limitations. You know, there’s some things they just can’t do. We also talk about open meeting laws, conflicts of interest. We talk about our form of government, and the role of city staff, you know that, we’re not your personal secretary, kind of thing. And we also talk about some of the critical issues facing the city. So that they have a better grasp of what to expect if they’re elected. And that helps them to make an informed decision on whether or not to run. Because to run for office, it, it’s expensive. You know, and one of the things that I find amusing to some extent is that the number of people, the minute they hear that our council is not paid--that’s it for them. And our council works hard. You know they all have 9-5 jobs. And they put in an additional twenty hours a week, minimum, on city business, and they’re not paid for that. So, that’s the thing I’m the most proud of. And it has become uh. We, we started it, and now other cities throughout the state are picking it up and doing something along those lines as well. (BL): I almost think it’s necessary, I mean it’s such a vital part of the decision process for potential candidates. (25:50): (SM): Yeah, mm hmm. Right. And candidates don’t understand sometimes, they’re only one vote. I’m gonna get on here, and it goes at all levels of government, not just the local level. I’m gonna get on here and I’m going to do this, I’m gonna you know, free lunches for everybody. Well, (laughs), yeah that’s what you think, but nobody else is gonna want that, so. (BL): Wow. What about accomplishments at other locations? Did you want to talk about that? (26:20): (SM): Well, in the other locations, kay, I, somehow or another I just lucked out on the records thing. Um, when I started with Bee Cave, same situation. They had moved from, um, a, a small, two-room school house, into a brand new city hall. And so all the records were just thrown into boxes, and so there was no rhyme or reason or anything. And they had hired a records management company to do this. And, but thankfully they decided we’re going to wait until the city secretary looks at it to see, if everything’s alright. Because I found boxes that were marked disposed, and, or destroy, and there were signed, original ordinances in there--our laws. And so, it was just all mixed up and all mismatched. So, it seems like in both cities that I’ve been in I’ve gone in and I’ve had to work on the records management program. And, in Bee Cave it was a, learn as you go kind a thing, thrown into the fire and I had to learn about it. And I took some crash courses in records management through the Texas State Library. And, and then the other thing, in, not in Bee Cave so much, but in San Marcos. One of the reasons I was hired was the department itself had developed a reputation for being hard to work with. And. (Coughs). And it was, other departments didn’t, and they didn’t trust us. Like, legal didn’t want us to even touch legal papers, they didn’t want us to have the contracts. And so I had to work, and it was two and a half years, up, short time that I was there, and I managed to get that relationship healed. So, I feel like I did, er, that was one, a major accomplishment there was that I actually healed that relationship, brought some respectability back to the office, and so they knew they could trust us, that we knew what we were doing, and that we were going to do a good job and not lose it. So. (BL): And that was at San Marcos? (28:28): (SM): Mm hmm. (BL): So what about challenges, you can talk about challenges maybe in your previous positions, or current? (28:37): (SM): Mm hmm. There are challenges on some level every single day, a lot of it just has to do with the personalities you’re dealing with. Um, you know in, in Bee Cave there were some personnel challenges because I was the HR Director there, and, it wasn’t that bad until we, we started a police force. (Laughs). And that was a lot of work. And then of course in San Marcos, again, a lot of it had to do with personalities, trying to, heal those wounds and make them understand that we were here to help, not to hinder. And then here, it’s not a challenge, it, it’s also an opportun, every challenge is an opportunity, you know? For some kind of growth or whatever. And here, we have a, the challenge is, but like I say it’s an opportunity, the challenge is is that we got a very educated, very well informed populous. They know the law, almost as well as I do. And if they don’t, they know they can call me and ask and sometimes they argue. But, so that’s the challenge there is trying to keep up and make sure that we’re as transparent as possible so that the, I want the community to trust us. And to know that we know what we’re doing. So the biggest challenge I’ve had when I came here was the recall election. You know, and that was my first recall election. And so we had to verify petitions and that was a learning process again, I do my best learning hands on, throw me in the fire, and I’ll figure it out. And so, that was, that was a good challenge, and it was one I really learned from, and because of that, that’s one of the things I teach now is recalls. So, for other cities, because those are becoming more popular. (Laughs). (BL): Can you talk a little bit about, the recall election itself? The process, and when, when was it? Was it local or state or (30:36): (SM): Mm hmm, mmm hmm. No this was local. Um, in Te, in Texas the only place where you can have a re, you can recall state level, but only home rule cities that have recall provisions in their charter, can have a recall election. And, the problem with our charter was that it was very broad. You did not have to state grounds. “I don’t like that he wears that tie on Thursday nights, so I want a recall.” And so, the process is first of all they have to bring in what’s called an affidavit, and they have to have five circulators. Our, um, our guidelines are a little bit stricter than some cities, but we require five circulators. So they come in with their affidavit. I look at that, I make sure everything’s okay, and then I have to prepare the petition. ‘Cause in the charter, I have to prepare the petition. And because I have to prepare the petition it has to be in English and Spanish. In some cities, the citizen can prepare the petition, and if the citizens does it, it doesn’t have to be in Spanish. So, anyway, so it had to be in English and Spanish. And then I give them the petitions and they have thirty days to gather the signatures. And in our charter they have to have, uh, the signatures have to number forty percent of the total number of people that voted in that particular race. So, if you, we, they were wanting to recall the entire cou-, mayor and council. And so say the mayor had three thousand votes, and this council member over here only had twenty-five hundred votes that, that people actually voted. Well forty percent of three thousand and forty percent of twenty-five hundred for those particular people. (Coughs). Each place had its own petition. And we had to verify every signature on every single one. And it took us, I think it was two weeks, two full weeks. But that was, it was a holiday. We worked holiday, we worked weekends, because nothing else stops, we still have to do the rest of our, our, our duties, as well as verify these signatures. So once I verified that we had the right number, then it was a valid petition, and it went to council. And then council at that time, they can either call the election, or they can ask the council member to resign. Well in our case, that was not going to be doable, because it was everybody. And so they called the election. Well our issue was, state law says that a recall election has to be held on a uniform election day, which is either in May or November. And, this petition came into me in March. We had already missed the deadline to call an election for May. And, the circulators, the reason they wanted this petition, they wanted this thing done immediately, is because they wanted to prevent a vote on an annexation. That was supposed to take place in April. So, our charter said that when a petition was found to be sufficient, we had to hold the election within thirty days, of the petition. But that conflicted with state law. And so, I said, we can’t do it, it’s gonna to have to be, it’s gonna to have to wait, you know. We can’t do it in March before that April vote. And they took us to court for it. And so I had to go to court. I had to testify as to why I’d made that, that decision. And, what my, I provided the law, the state law that, that it trumps the charter language and we won, we prevailed. And so, it was a moot point. You know, but we still had, we still had to have the election. (BL): Right. (34:35): (SM): So come May we had our general election, we had a recall election, and then we had to have a special election in case, if, you know, had to go ahead and order it just in case. ‘Cause if they got recalled we’d have to have an election to fill those empty slots. So. But, the recall failed, overwhelmingly. (SC): I wonder how many recalls are successful. (35:02): (SM): They’re becoming more successful, um, let me see which city is it, uh, I can never re, forgive me Peggy if I say this wrong, I think its Cibolo. (SC): (nods) Cibolo. Yeah. (35:33): (SM): Okay, thank you, okay. They’ve all been successful. (SC): Interesting. (35:27): (SM): And they have a recall like once every year. They’ve, she helps me on, we teach this together, because she is a true expert, because, I mean her very first election was a recall election. Um, the city of Kil, Killeen had a recall election, got rid of everybody. And they could not have an election to replace them for six months. The city secretary there said she got so much work done in that six months. (Laughs). (SC): Can you imagine? (Laughs) (35:59): (SM): You know, but they’re becoming more and more popular. People see that as a way to get rid of something, you know if they’re not happy, well just like right now, our citizens are very, a lot of the neighborhoods are unhappy about the stealth dorms. And they, if they think that the council is constantly approving these rezonings or whatever. They’ll go out for them, they’ll, they’ll go out. You know, and that’s where they have their voice is at, at the polls. You know, that’s part of the democratic process, and it’s a good process. (BL): Right. (36:30): (SM): It’s not a favorite one, but it’s a good process. (SC): Do you think student housing should expand, or be limited at this point? We were just talking, well I guess I was just listening to another interview, with the one we did at the utilities office, and he was talking about how it’s just been non-stop for the past thirty something years, the growth. And do you think it’s out of control at all, or, or is it something that should be managed because it’s a college city? (36:54): (SM): Well it’s a college city, and I think we have to remember that, that this city is here today because of the university. I do think it needs to be managed in some form or fashion, but I don’t know we’re too late. You know, so. And they, they’re trying to manage it, manage it with like, some restrictions like, no more than four unrelated, that type thing. But then how do you prove that without becoming like a Gestapo and breaking into people’s houses. You know, so I don’t know, I don’t, I don’t have the answer to that, but I do think that something needs to be done, because I know as a person who came here seven years ago, tried buying a house. It was very difficult for me to find a place I could afford because, you know, I, I wanted to rent until I knew where I wanted to live, and I couldn’t afford to pay by the bedroom. I mean that’s what a nice house was going for. You know, so, it, it’s a difficult question. (BL): It’s probably even now, I mean as the university grows, I mean seven years ago till now, I mean just the growth there probably, it’s even harder to find that. (38:04): (SM): Right. Now the other challenge I faced in a different city was a, what’s called a recount. And that’s (clears throat), that’s when the race was very, very close. You know, and so the, the individual that lost demanded a recount. And you know, again, never had done a recount before, had to break open the books and start studying it and reading about it, and, and just following the process. That was very difficult. And recounts typically, I would say 99 percent of the time do not change anything. You know, so. (BL): Okay. Is there anything that you wanted to see through that you were unable to do so? (38:57): (SM): I’ve been very fortunate here. I’ve been given the resources, the personnel, the time to do whatever project it was I took on. And I feel like I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to here. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to miss it and there’s not gonna be days I’m gonna wake up and call whoever’s here and say “Well, what’s going on?” (Laughs). So, but, yeah I think I’ve, I, I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to. (BL): So along with your many responsibilities as city secretary, what are other responsibilities you have chosen to take on? Such as organizations, teaching? (39:34): (SM): Okay, well uh, my, my state organization. I was on the Board of Trustees there for seven years and then I served in every office including president. I did the same thing for my chapter for that state organization. I worked on committees for the state organization. I also worked on committees and chaired committees for my, the International Institute of Municipal Clerks. Um, I’m on the legislative, on the Chamber of Commerce Legislative Affairs Committee. I teach, like you said, I’ve um, I do a lot of teaching for my state organization, and for the international organization. I typically stress, election law, records management, and parliamentary procedure. I do that for the Texas Municipal League. They have, in fact I’ll be doing it next week. They have the newly elected seminars so when people are elected they bring them in and teach them all about the laws and stuff, and I do a session on parliamentary procedure to help them run their meetings more smoothly. So I do all that. I mentor. I’ve got several others younger, and I say younger I mean younger to the profession, some of them are my age, but in other cities I help, help them with their questions and stuff. (Coughs) Excuse me. (BL): What advice do you have for others interested in your position, or public service in general? (41:07): Public service in general, do it. Pays not great, the appreciation’s even less, but just that feeling that you’re helping your community. ‘Cause typically, it’s usually, it’s our community too. You know, we, we live here too. And it’s not just my community, it’s my children’s community, and my grandchildren’s, and my friends, and, and just to know that you have a part of that, its history. It’s helping to make history and that. I’m a history buff, so that just, that just follows right along with it. For government, you know if they wanted to be like in municipal government at the local level. I love my profession, there is nothing like it in the world. I would not be a city manager, I would not be an elected official, for anything, but I love doing what I do. One of the reasons is is that the profession itself, our group, city secretaries, we’re very close knit. We, we help one another, there’s no, there’s not a one of us that says “No, I’m not gonna share this with you because you’ll get credit for it.” We want everybody to succeed, and so if I get a, a request from council that says “Well we’re trying to do an ordinance on texting and driving.” You know, well I’ll send it out to my group and I’ll get a hundred responses. And then we can take that information and help to create an ordinance that fits our city. And then council thinks I’m brilliant. (Laughs) You know? (BL): A win-win (Laughs). (42:33): (SM): Yeah, it’s a win-win! Exactly. (BL): What are your future plans or interests after you retire from city secretary work here? (42:47): Well, I’m going to be moving to Longview, to be with my daughter and her family. My husband wants to watch the grandson play football. And, my husband’s an author, and so he’s gonna, he’s excited because he’s been retired for seven years. And so he wants me to assist him in his next project. I’m his editor, the man has this thing about commas. Anyway. (SC): I have the same thing. (Laughs). (43:11): (SM): (Laughs). He puts them where they don’t belong, and won’t put them where they do belong. But at any rate. So he, that’s a project he has for me. My daughter’s already signed me up to help with some classes that she works with, Butner International, which helps, low income families, or families in distress. Like maybe say a single mother who has no skills, has no education, to help give them those skills to go out and get a job. And so she’s got me signed up to help with some of that. My son, of course, has signed me up for, weekend babysitting. (Laughs). (SC): Of course. (43:54): Yeah. And then I’ve had a couple of offers from, one from an attorn-, from, from a law firm, and well two, two law firms, and then one from a, uh, a organization that provides assistance like as interim city secretary sort of go in and help with, with programs, and so I’m considering doing some consulting. So. I’ll be busy. (BL): Yeah. (SC): Why do you think, I’m just curious, why do you think the law firms have approached you, what is it do you think? (44:21): (SM): Elections. (SC): Yeah. (44:23): (SM): Mm hmm. A lot of small towns don’t have the resources for a big law firm, or, or rather, they don’t have the resources for an in house attorney. And their city secretary might be brand new, and doesn’t know anything about elections, or is scared to death of elections and doesn’t want to do them. And so they will contract with this law firm to send out somebody to help them run their election. (BL): Interesting. (SC): Yep, that is interesting. Yeah. (44:49): (SM): So. (BL): So is there anything else you would like to talk about? (44:53): (SM): Well, I forgot to mention something on a question you asked earlier, so can I go back to that? (BL): Yeah, of course. State the question. (44:59): Okay, well you were talking about the, the history of the position, and I was talking about how pre-WWII, the men, well back then the men had the education, the, the college education, and the women didn’t, and I think that’s where, the, the disparity started, was because women were not educated like the men were. And, ‘cause these people were typically house wives, you know, young married women whose husbands were now oversees and so they were trying to help out. And so, I think that’s where some of the, the respect for the profession may have fallen was because a lot of the women were not educated. They did not have degrees, where the men before them did. Now I can say that because I don’t have a degree. You know, and so when I told you that I’d look out there and I’d see all these young faces that I don’t recognize, they, they’ve got college degrees. You know, they’re going to school, and they’re now starting their careers and they’re trying to get into jobs, they don’t know what they’re getting into sometimes, and that’s where that elevator speech comes in handy. But, we’re getting that professionalism back and we’re increasing that respect, because the people that are coming in have that education. Yeah. I highly value my certifications, you know, those. The Texas, the state certification, that’s 200 hours of course study. That’s tests, that’s attending seminars, it’s brutal. You know, so it’s not that I’m not educated, I just don’t have that diploma. (BL): Well that is, that is... (46:36): Yes. I have that (points at certification on wall, laughs). So, I just wanted to add, throw that in there because I think that was an important par-, point and I forgot to mention it earlier. (BL): Sure. Is there anything else then? With, with what you would like to talk about? (46:55): (SM): I can’t think of anything, I’m looking back over my notes to see. You talked, you also asked me about challenges, you know, and I had talked about the records, but also one of the big things here was the under-utilization of Laserfiche. (BL): Ohh. (47:13): (SM): You know. It was purchased years, like ten years before I even came on board. And people were trained, but then as people left, the new people weren’t being trained in it and so people didn’t know how to use it, didn’t understand it, they were afraid of it. And so when I came in, it was not being used correctly, it was not, or not being used at all. And so, we started on that. And Ian (Ian Whittenton: Records Management Administrator), you know, was instrumental in getting out there and getting everybody on to Laserfiche, and helping them develop their work flows. Helping them with their retention schedules so that they would understand what it was they needed to do. And now we’ve got people on board with it and they actually like it now. So. That was a big challenge that we overcame. (BL): So can you explain what Laserfiche is and why it’s useful to the city? (48:01): (SM): Okay. Well Laserfiche is our, our records repository. And it can become, we don’t have that module yet, for Laserfiche that makes it an actual true records management program. But because of the work flows that we have and the retention schedules that we’ve built in, we’ve made it, we’ve sort of band aided and, but made it work as a records management program. And so it’s our repository for all of our records. We’re trying to be as paperless as we can be, but we’re never going to get rid of paper. You know there’s some things that you just have to keep. (Coughs). But because of, and as the city grows we don’t have the room for all the paper. So keeping it as, as a digital image really helps with storage. So. (BL): Thank you. So Sheena do you have anything else you’d like to add? (SC): I don’t think so, I think, you had mentioned previously that there would be a little interim, right? Where, where nobody would be here in this position, are you worried? (49:01): (SM): (Laughs) Well, I don’t know. This is on the agenda, for th-next Thursday. They may make a decision then. And if they do, it depends on who they, they, they get, because, my last day is July 31st, (SC): Right. (49:21): (SM): If they go in-house, well then there’s, there’s no transition, it would just be done. If it’s gonna be somebody from outside the city, depending on when they make that offer, there might be a lag time of a week or two, couple a weeks, or maybe even longer. So, so I’m curious, I’m, I’m excited, saying I’m curious to see what happens next Thursday myself. (SC): I can imagine. Right. (49:44): (SM): Yeah. (BL): So I actually do have one last question before we wrap up. How do you feel about leaving the position? Or leaving the city? (49:54): Bittersweet. Its bittersweet, this is my family. I spend more time here, with those people than I do with my own family. And so it, it’s very bittersweet. I could not have had the success I’ve had in this office if it wasn’t for every single one of those people out there. You know especially when I was president of the state organization, I was gone a lot. You know I did a lot of traveling. And, I could do that with a clear conscious, and (sigh) some breath of relief, because I knew, they were going to handle it. You know, now the first time, I hadn’t been here very long and I had to go out of town for something, and Tanya (Tanya McNutt: Deputy City Secretary) would email me, and say “Call me.” Well, of course you’re thinking like “Oh my God, what blew up?” So, I can finally got her to not do that anymore. (Laughs). You know? But, you know, they’re all very good at what they do. And we’ve made a point of cross-training in this office so that whenever somebody’s out, whether it’s me, or Tanya, or Yvette (Yvette Dela Torre: Deputy Local Registrar), or Ian, you know for whatever reason. Like when Yvette was on maternity leave for twelve weeks. Somebody had to be able to do that job. So we cross-trained. So, they’re family, they’re my, you know, they’re my kids, they really are. You know and so yeah it, it’s gonna be very bittersweet. And it think the first week I’ll be okay. But after that Charlie’s (Sherry’s husband) been like, “You know you’re going to be kind of antsy and irritable,” and I said “Well you’re just gonna have to deal with it.” (Laugh). (SC): Right. (Laughing, inaudible) (51:27): (SM): So. (BL): I feel like I would relate to that. (51:30): (SM): Yeah. (BL): So, well thank you for your time, and your contribution, not only with this interview, but just your time here at the city. And dedication to the city, and making sure it all r-, goes smoothly. Whether or not you feel it does. (Laughs). So we really do appreciate the time you spent with us today as well as all of your work you did with the city. (51:55): (SM): Well, thank you, and I appreciate this opportunity because I think it’s, it’s important for the position, for there to be a, some kind of, idea of what it was we do, and how we did it, and why we did it. (BL): So thank you. (52:08): (SM): Thank you, I appreciate it.