June 12, 2024 – Village of Jackson, Wi – The Jackson Village Board will meet June 25, 2024; a portion of the meeting will be to appoint an interim clerk.
It was May 31, 2024, when Jackson’s clerk Anastasia Gonstead submitted her resignation. Gonstead was hired August 11, 2023, following the departure of Jilline Dobratz. Gonstead will return to her previous job as clerk in Mayville, WI in July 2024.
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Jackson Village administrator Jen Keller said she will recommend deputy clerk Pam Wolf take over as interim clerk while the search for a new full-time clerk is underway.
“We have a deputy clerk that would need to satisfy the statutory requirements until we hire a new clerk,” said Keller.
Questioned whether the deputy clerk was certified, Keller said, “Neither our clerk nor deputy is certified from the clerk’s Institute.”
There are two clerk certifications from the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association (WMCA). One is the Wisconsin Certified Municipal Clerk (WCMC), and the highest certification is Wisconsin Certified Professional Clerk (WCPC).
According to the job posting the clerk is responsible for “a range of highly complex duties” including “administration of elections and management of Election Chiefs and poll workers.”
Keller confirmed, neither Gonstead nor Wolf are certified. The previous clerk, Dobratz was certified and the Village of Jackson’s treasurer, Darlene Smith, is a certified clerk.
Keller said it was difficult to find a certified clerk. “There’s importance in being educated,” said Keller. “But to find a certified municipal clerk right now… your certified clerks are difficult to get if a community isn’t large and paying generously for it.”
The deadline to apply for the clerk’s position is June 24, 2024, at 2 p.m. The salary range for the full-time position is $65,000 – $75,000.
Keller said several rounds of interviews will be conducted and hopefully a recommendation will be made by the July 9, 2024, board meeting.
As of June 11, 2024, Keller said there were eight applicants who applied for the clerk’s position. None of the applicants were current Village employees.
Gonstead begins her job as clerk in Mayville on July 1, 2024. She will remain with the Village of Jackson through the end of June.
The next election is a Partisan Primary on August 11, 2024, followed by the November 5, 2024, General Election.
Keller summed up the importance of the November election.
“Every four years, it comes to us in terms of the presidency. But otherwise, every November, we host an election and like many communities, we all anticipate it to go well,” said Keller. “But we all keep our eyes on what happens between now and then with state statute, election law. But otherwise, we have election inspectors ready. We have staff here in the interim and I think Jackson is going to have a good successor.”
This is a working story, and more information will be posted when details are available.
Below is the initial story, June 7, 2024, regarding the clerk vacancy in Jackson.
June 7, 2024 – Village of Jackson, WI – A special Jackson Village Board meeting will be called later this month to discuss the vacancy and appoint of an interim clerk. That’s according to Village president Brian Heckendorf.
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June 6, 2024 – Jackson, Wi – Just six months ahead of the November 2024 General Election and the Village of Jackson, Wi, is looking for a new head clerk. It was August 2023 when Anastasia Gonstead was announced as the new clerk in the Village of Jackson. Gonstead accepted the position after working as clerk for eight months in Mayville, WI. Now, after less than a year in Jackson she is returning to Mayville.
“She will be starting as clerk in Mayville on July 1, 2024,” said Mayville city administrator Stephanie Justmann.
It was the April 2024 election when Mayville underwent a major leadership change after the mayor was ousted following one term in office. Mayville regrouped and hired Justmann as the new city administrator.
Justmann was initially hired as city administrator/clerk and now Gonstead is returning as clerk and Christine Coulter, who was serving as interim clerk is moving on. A new deputy clerk will also be starting in Mayville; an announcement is expected Monday, June 10, 2024.
“I liked that Anastasia had experience in elections and she had experience with open meeting laws,” said Justmann. “She’s also very outgoing and personable and we need to build that relationship with the common counsel. She’ll bring that, along with her knowledge of the area.’
The Village of Jackson posted the clerk’s position on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Salary is listed at $65,000 – $75,000. The first review of applications will occur Monday, June 24 at 2 p.m.
A Partisan Primary election is on tap Aug. 13, 2024.
Below is the initial story that ran when Gonstead was hired in Jackson, WI.
August 5, 2023 – Jackson, WI – The Village of Jackson has a new clerk as Anastasia Gonstead will replace Jilline Dobratz who, according to Village administrator Jen Keller “voluntarily resigned June 1, 2023.” Click HERE to see results of an open records request regarding J. Dobratz exit from the Village of Jackson.
Gonstead, 38, has been the clerk in Mayville since January 2023.
Gonstead has a bit of experience within municipal government. She worked part time for the Mayville Police Department as an administrative assistant. She worked in child support for Fond du Lac County and worked in the Treasurer’s Office in Fond du Lac County as a legal secretary before stepping into the private sector and working in foreclosure law.
As a clerk in Mayville, Gonstead handled her first election within a month of being hired.
“I hit the ground running on that one,” she said.
Gonstead said she is not a certified clerk, but she is going through a 4-year certification program in Green Bay, WI. Her predecessor Dobratz was certified in October 2021. According to documents in the open records request Dobratz “attained designation of a Wisconsin Certified Professional Clerk.”
Dobratz was also a Fellow of the Athenian Leadership Society of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.
Gonstead said she was made aware of the clerk’s opening in Jackson, WI and received an email from Village Administrator Jen Keller. “She let me know there was an opening, and I was also notified by some Mayville residents who work out there,” said Gonstead.
“As a newer clerk, I believe this opportunity will allow me to focus on getting all the duties of the clerk properly learned, without having to kind of dabble in a bunch of other stuff to try to help keep things functioning,” Gonstead said.
As far as a skillset, Gonstead said before starting in Mayville in January 2023 with no clerk experience she did have a 7-day overlap with the previous clerk and she is just “one of those people who can just jump in and figure it out.”
“My first election was a month after I was hired. I’m one of those people who have enough of a varied background that I know my resources, I know how to get in and figure it out and ask questions. I’m not afraid to do the hard work to get things where they need to go,” she said.
Gonstead will work in Mayville through August 11, 2023, and start in the Village of Jackson on August 14, 2023.
On a history note: There have been multiple changes in various clerk positions in Washington County, WI over the last year.
– In Hartford, Wi – Shanna Kreilkamp of Rubicon was hired February 28, 2023, to replace Lori Hetzel as she retired after 45 years on the job.
– In West Bend, Wi – Jilline Dobratz was hired as the new clerk in December 2023. She replaced Lizbet Santana who was hired June 2022 after spending six months at the Wisconsin Election Commission. Santana left in October 2023 after being charged with felony child abuse. West Bend had been without a head clerk for seven months following the departure of Stephanie Justman in November 2021. Within the past month both deputy clerks stepped down from West Bend clerk’s office and a hiring process is underway for one deputy clerk and one office person.
– In Germantown, WI – UPDATE – Donna Ott is Village clerk and Kasie Miller is chief deputy clerk. Erin Hirn was interim clerk. She is head of Human Resources in the Village of Germantown but stepped in June 2023. Head clerk Deanna Braunschweig left in March 2023 to take a job as clerk/treasured in the Village of Chenequa in neighboring Waukesha County. Germantown is hoping to fill its head clerk position during its meeting August 21, 2023. Kasie Miller, who left West Bend, is currently deputy clerk in Germantown. She started in July 2023.
– In Campbellsport, WI – Angel Rettler took over as head clerk in June 2023. Rettler had been deputy clerk/treasurer in Germantown, WI.
- The town of Polk, WI – Alison Pecha is the clerk in the Town of Polk. Pecha was formerly the clerk in the Town of Herman in neighboring Dodge County. Pecha started in October 2021 after clerk Sandy Rotar died unexpectedly August 30, 2021 at the age of 50.
- A reminder November 5, 2024 is the next U.S. presidential election.
