Blog: A Day in the Life of the City Clerk’s Office

Published on February 24, 2026

If you’ve ever attended a City Commission meeting, received a response to a public record request or heard a proclamation celebrating a local hero, then you’ve already experienced the quiet but powerful impact of the City Clerk’s Office. It’s one of the most behind-the-scenes teams in city government, and yet it touches almost every corner of civic life.

The Clerk is a Charter Officer, appointed directly by the City Commission. It’s one of three such positions written into the City Charter (along with City Manager and City Attorney) - that’s how important this role is.

So today, we’re taking you inside North Port City Hall for a “Day in the Life” of our City Clerk, Heather Faust, and her team. Grab your coffee, latte or energy drink. She already has hers.

8:00 a.m. Sunshine In, Inbox Full

Heather steps into her office with the morning sun slanting through the windows, with the current season’s latte in hand.

As her computer finishes booting up, the familiar ping of an email lands in her inbox. It’s the first of many. As the City’s custodian of all official records, Heather and her team oversee everything from meeting minutes to ordinances to archives dating back decades. Transparency is not just a concept here; it’s a daily practice.

Today’s first email? A public record request from a resident seeking all emails pertaining to the development of Activity Center 2 from the past six months. Heather smiles softly. It’s a big one, but this is exactly what the Clerk’s Office is here for: helping residents access the information they want and ensuring that North Port remains a model of open government.

She wastes no time getting this request into the hands of the department’s Public Records Technician, Mike, who ensures the request is logged into the city’s online public records request portal, reviewed and assigned to the appropriate staff to be filled in accordance with Florida’s public records law. Knowing the request is in good hands, she opens the next message.

8:30 a.m. The Keeper of the Record

Heather and Glorimar (her mighty Records Management Administrator) are responsible for maintaining the City Charter, the City Code, every ordinance and resolution ever adopted, every contract and legal instrument the City signs, thousands of pages of historical records and archives, all public notices, elections and candidate filings, and advisory boards and Commission minutes and agendas.

It’s part historian, part legal steward, part civic safety net. No pressure, but there is an email asking for an agreement from 2002 which needs to be responded to, and the department isn’t sure when it was approved or who the agreement was with, only that it was for the repairs of a sidewalk on Sumter Boulevard. With a quick brainstorming session, Heather and Glorimar are able to locate the record.

9 a.m. Agenda Day

Heather pulls up today’s meeting calendar. There’s a Commission meeting tonight, a Code Enforcement meeting later in the week and a Planning & Zoning Advisory Board meeting next Thursday that includes several quasi-judicial items.

She carefully reviews the agenda packets with her Boards Specialists Tiffany and Julia, making sure that each quasi-judicial item is marked correctly. These require special procedures, sworn testimony and disclosure of all communications and decisions based on evidence, not opinion. It’s the kind of detail that keeps the city running smoothly and fairly.

10 a.m. Democracy, One Oath at a Time

A knock on the door breaks the quiet. Five Commissioners are traveling to Orlando for a conference. Some of them are traveling in the evening prior for an early morning session, while others are heading out later. Administrative Service Specialist Sara had made all the hotel reservations well in advance, but now one of the Commissioners wants to go the evening prior. The host hotel is sold out. Heather and Sara bounce some ideas back and forth and determine there is a hotel only one block away with availability. Reservations are cancelled and a new hotel is booked just in time.

10:45 a.m. Time for Therapy

Whether it is Jerome Fletcher, North Port City Manager, or a commissioner, someone stops by for their weekly (sometimes daily) “therapy session.” Luckily, Heather has a degree in Psychology that comes in handy while they work on solving the City’s (and the world’s) problems.

11 a.m. Checks, Contracts & Commission Business

The Clerk attests all written contracts and instruments on behalf of the City and countersigns all checks issued for payment. That ensures every document the City sends out into the world is legitimate and approved.

Back at her desk, Heather reviews a stack of documents waiting for her review for the evening’s commission meeting. These could be interlocal agreements, budget amendment ordinances, a small grant contract or invoices requiring her counter signature. All documents have been logged, tabbed for signature and are ready for the meeting.

Lunch is still an hour away, so there is more time to put out those email fires. Blink and about 10 more appear.

1 p.m. Lunch Break (Sort Of)

Heather unwraps her lunch but only gets halfway through a sandwich before a ceremonial request pings on her screen. Someone has submitted an online request for a proclamation recognizing a local educator who has impacted generations of students.

She reads the request with a smile. Moments like this show the human side of government and make the busy days worth it. She forwards it to her Assistant City Clerk, Matt, for processing and returns to her sandwich, now slightly less warm.

2:30 p.m. Into the Archives

A box is delivered from a citizen containing documents, photos and newspaper articles for the City’s historical archive. Heather solicits the assistance of Staff Support Specialist Sue, getting a little chuckle from old photos of commissioners and board members that they have had the pleasure of working with over the years. The records are logged in and filed in the city’s archive room, where they’ll be preserved for future generations. Everything from old Commission photos to founding documents to special projects finds its way here. It’s part museum, part memory bank, and the Clerk is its caretaker.

3 p.m. Public Notices, Policies & Legal Review

The afternoon is filled with details only the City Clerk could love, and thank goodness someone does. She and her team update public comment policies, hybrid meeting procedures, a notice for an upcoming quasi-judicial hearing, a resolution draft for City Attorney review, a ceremonial key to the city request, a promotional item request and a departmental policy.

Every document has a rule, and every rule has a purpose. Heather ensures they stay organized, accessible and compliant.

4.15 p.m Therapy… Again, or is it Team Building?!!

The City Clerk believes in working hard, but a sanity break is always encouraged. Staff are sitting around the “collaboration station” discussing the happenings of the day or the plans for tomorrow. New ideas are thought of, old ideas are changed - either way the conversations are happening, the collaboration is happening, and the team building is happening.

4:30 p.m. Reset… Because the Day Isn’t Over Yet

Heather takes a moment to regroup, not to leave for the day but to prepare for the second half of her job. Tonight is a City Commission meeting, which means she shifts from daytime operations to evening governance.

Before heading to the Commission Chambers, she grabs that stack of documents she reviewed earlier in the day, reads over the online public comments received to make sure there are no words she can’t pronounce and ensures the template for the notes she will take is ready to go.

She does a quick run to her favorite coffee shop for another latte, because she’ll need it.

6 p.m. Commission Meeting Begins

Heather takes her seat at the dais, ready to document every action. She and her team have a number of responsibilities tonight including recording all motions, votes, amendments and official action, ensuring the meeting follows the City’s Rules of Order and Rules of Decorum, managing public comment procedures, affirming any oaths or required quasi-judicial disclosures, attesting documents approved during the session, handling speaker cards and supervising the recording for the permanent City record.

It may look calm from the outside, but the Clerk’s mind is moving faster than anyone else in the room, tracking procedure, reading legislation, timing public commentors and ensuring accuracy all at once.

When the meeting finally ends, Heather and her team stay behind to save and secure all audio recordings, log the votes, organize notes for the official minutes, ensure any last-minute public comment cards are properly recorded, attest any documents approved that evening and file the next-day action items for staff.

Only then does she turn off the lights in her office, often long after the rest of City Hall has gone quiet.

A Quiet Force of Good Governance

While the Clerk’s Office may not always be front and center, North Port couldn’t function without it. From public records to elections, meetings to archives, oaths to ordinances, this office is the keeper of truth, transparency and trust. So, the next time you attend a meeting, read a proclamation or request a public record, know that behind the scenes sits a dedicated team ensuring your government remains open, accurate and accessible.

And tomorrow at 8 a.m. Heather will be back, latte in hand, sunshine pouring in, and another full day of democracy ahead.

For more information on the City Clerk’s Office, please visit their webpage at: City Clerk - North Port, FL