Nine Lesser-Known Elected Offices That Influence Social Systems
While sensationalized and highly-covered presidential elections may garner the most attention from American voters, major political change begins at the local level. Each election cycle, offices are filled to decide who is going to make the decisions for their constituents at the state, county, and even the smallest town -level. Here are some less media-covered elected offices to vote for in the next election.
Municipal Governments
Municipalities refer to the city, town, borough (or village if you live in Alaska) government that is responsible for public services in this scope. The exact structures of these governments may vary but generally fall under fives types of structures:
- Council-manager: city council acts as legislative body and city manger as the chief executive
- Mayor-council: city council acts as legislative body and mayor is the chief executive
- Commission: commissioning board exercises both legislative and executive powers
- Open town meeting: all residents have an opportunity to assemble to debate and vote on policy decisions
- Representative town meeting: townspeople elect a number of citizens to be town meeting members of whom represent them at the town meeting
For each structure, the number of elected offices for local governments may also vary among regions, but here are nine positions that are traditionally elected to govern communities across the United States.
1. City Clerk
Also may be referred to as Board Secretary or Recorder in certain regions, the City Clerk serves as the liaison between the public and City Council. Generally, the Clerk fulfills a multitude of administrative duties that may not always be outlined. However, in some U.S. states, provisions are established in the state constitutions delineating the clerk’s official duties.
Major responsibilities may include:
- Conducting and administering democratic processes such as the City’s elections, political filings, and access to city records and all legislative actions ensuring transparency to the public
- Acting as Compliance Officer for federal, state, and local statutes
- Managing public inquiries and relationships and arranges for ceremonial and official functions
- Producing City Council’s agenda materials
Notable office-holder:
Brenda F. Pree is the current City Clerk of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania having sworn in since 2017. Pree is the first African American to serve as City Clerk in Pittsburgh city history. She has affiliations with the National Association of Parliamentarians, National League of Cities, National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club, and the Pennsylvania Association of Notaries.
2. Chief of Police
Serving as one of the highest ranking members of a City police department, the Chief of Police oversees the operations, budgeting, and general development and implementation of all law enforcement and crime prevention programs for the City. Although often appointed by the Police Commissioner, certain metropolitan cities may hold elections for the Chief of Police.
Major responsibilities may include:
- Managing all police officers and detectives in the department and meeting with supervising officers and other management personnel
- Developing new policies and regulations aligned with City Council plans
- Planning the budget for the entire police department
- Designing programs with the special interest to prevent crime as well as making it easier to report crime
- Speak at press conferences and make public appearances regarding high-profile criminal activity within the community
- Leading the day-to-day operations of department and maintain the peace and order all over the city.
Notable office-holder:
Sworn in May of this year, Santa Clara, California Police Chief Pat Nikolai entered the office in the middle of the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filling the office after a controversial predecessor, the Police Chief is faced with challenges like the budget crisis. Having worked for the city since 1991, Nikolai hopes to deliver for the people who have elected him.
3. City Attorney
The city attorney is the representative attorney of the city or municipality. They generally handle all legal matters for the city, from traffic tickets to civil lawsuits to acting as a general counsel, giving legal advice for city departments. They may focus on civil claims against the city (e.g. claims against the city police department), prosecuting criminal misdemeanors and violations, or real estate (e.g. drug or alcohol nuisances or housing code enforcement)
Major responsibilities may include:
- Examining contracts and ordinances and interpreting federal and state statutes
- Prosecuting all misdemeanor criminal offenses and infractions occurring in the City, working closely with local law enforcement agencies
- Litigating all civil actions on behalf of the City and representing the City, its boards and officers in all civil trials and legal proceedings
- Advocating for the benefit of the City before Congress and the State Legislature and represents the City in proceedings before all federal and state administrative bodies and committees
Notable office-holder:
Currently sitting on the Los Angeles Superior Court, Hon. James Hahn served as the Los Angeles City Attorney from 1985 to 2001. During his tenure, Hahn led multiple campaigns such as creating the Tobacco Enforcement Project to prevent the sale of tobacco to minors.
4. City Council Members
Council members — also known as a town council or board of aldermen — represent the interests of their constituents, often community members of a city or district. In addition to proposing, passing, and ratifying laws and ordinances, city councils manage budgets and investigate city agencies when necessary.
Major responsibilities may include:
- Reviewing and approving the annual budget
- Overseeing performance of the local public employees
- Establishing tax rates
- Passing ordinances and resolutions and modifying the city’s charter
- Regulating public health and safety
- Responding to general constituent needs and complaints
Notable office-holder:
Within the past decade, the city of San Jose in California experienced an increase in rape cases and sexual assault crimes. Among the council women who were tackling the issue is Sylvia Arenas, who took part in the proposal to reserve $5 million for efforts to support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking. Arenas had also requested up to $750,000 in city budget to improve resources for victims of gender-based violence, as well as training for police officers to deal with survivors’ trauma.
County and District Governments
As agents of the state, county and district governments serve their wider-spanning communities as opposed to municipalities. These governments may also serve unincorporated areas by providing local government facilities and services as highways, police protection, building inspection, planning and zoning.
5. County Sheriff
The County Sheriff is tasked with generally overseeing the safety of the county and is mainly responsible for enforcement of the law. They are responsible for criminal investigation in their jurisdiction and are often the public figure handling major crimes of the area.
Major duties may include:
- Officer of the Courts: keeping the peace and providing court room security
- Coroner: investigating the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead and confirm cause of death
- Director of Emergency Services
- Making arrests and executing criminal and search warrants
- Patrolling assigned areas of the County, checking security of local businesses and residences
- Conducting specialized criminal investigations and interdepartmental investigations
Notable office-holder:
Harry Lee, former sheriff of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana served from 1980 until his death in 2007. Lee was the first Asian-American to serve as sheriff in American history and was a political celebrity for his larger-than-life personality and integral decision-making for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief.
6. County Commissioner
Based on the complex design of counties, the job of the County Commissioner is to understand these complex levels of government in order to ensure legal compliance. Commissioners are tasked with overseeing a wide array of policy areas and differing specific functions of the county. While the specific roles and duties of county commissioners are numerous and varied, they often carry out the largest public projects of the County.
Major responsibilities may include:
Overseeing policy on the following areas —
- public works projects (e.g. infrastructure, waste management)
- information technology
- emergency preparedness
- budgeting and financial management
Overseeing county operations in areas such as —
- ambulance services and general healthcare
- probation and problem solving courts
- employee salary and benefit administration
- water protection and groundwater utilization
Notable office-holder:
North Carolina’s Guilford County Commissioner Kay Cashion was awarded 2019 Commissioner of the Year due to her service at the local, state and national level. Cashion was a driving force behind establishing centers designed to help abused spouses, rape victims and others who have experienced similar traumatic events and often have nowhere else to turn.
7. District Attorney
Perhaps one of the more well known government roles on this list, the DA is the chief prosecutor for a given community, often a county or district. They are considered the top law enforcement official as they decide when an arrest leads to a charge. Generally, the DA’s duties are to manage the prosecutor’s office, investigate alleged crimes in cooperation with law enforcement, and file criminal charges or bringing evidence before the Grand Jury.
Major responsibilities may include:
- Prosecuting and defending any civil action in the circuit court in the prosecution or defense of which the state is interested
- Attending each special session of the circuit court held for the trial of persons charged with criminal offenses
- Representing the board of registrars of the County or counties comprising their judicial circuits in all civil actions for damages based on the performance of their official duties
- Representing the Chief of Police of any municipality in their respective judicial circuits in all habeas corpus proceedings filed in the circuit courts of their respective judicial circuits
- Upon request, assisting the Attorney General in the prosecution of all impeachment proceedings
Notable office-holder:
Before competing for the Presidential 2020 Democratic ticket, Sen. Kamala Harris was the 27th district attorney for San Francisco, California, serving from 2004 to 2011. During her term, Harris established a special unit to tackle environmental crimes as well as an education initiative to reform recidivism and reentry among youth.
State Governments
Government may also look a little different when looking at state-level elected offices. While the number of seats may change among states, many of them follow several traditionally elected offices.
8. Secretary of State
In forty-seven of the fifty U.S. states, the Secretary of State is the acting record keeper for a wide range of documents as well as the state’s chief elections officer.
Major responsibilities may include:
- Serving as the state’s Chief Elections Officer, implementing electronic filing and Internet disclosure of campaign and lobbyist financial information
- Maintaining business filings
- Commissioning notaries public
- Safeguarding the State Archives
Notable office-holder:
The state of Washington’s current Secretary of State is Kim Wyman, the second woman is the state’s history to fill the position. Wyman has received numerous awards, including the Woman of Distinction Award from the Pacific Peaks Girl Scout Council and the Washington State University President’s Award for Leadership for her commitment to mentoring youth and connecting people to government.
9. Auditor or Comptroller
The Auditor (also known as the Comptroller in some states) is an elected or appointed position that supervises the accounting and financial functions of the state. For forty-eight of the fifty states, this position is often designed as a watchdog role over other state departments to audit and investigate internal government affairs to protect against fraud.
Major responsibilities include:
- Investigating state agencies or issue areas that are considered high risk for waste, fraud, abuse or mismanagement
- Ensuring fairness of state charges and fees
- Measuring performance through assessments, audits and evaluations
- Assessing efficiency and effectiveness
- Testing key management and administrative controls
- Offering insights and solutions for value-added approaches, process improvements and future strategies based on independent assessments
Notable office-holder:
Susana Mendoza, is Illinois’s 10th state Comptroller, formerly serving as Chicago’s first female City Clerk. During her term as Illinois Comptroller, Mendoza had passed several transparency bills, including a bill requiring governors to list employees on their own payroll.
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For a majority of government jurisdictions across the United States, these offices are electable and therefore answerable to the public at large. Knowing and deciding who represents your opinion shouldn’t be rocket science. That is why we at Voterly hope to engage voters like you to understand your government, big or small. By making it easier to know your representatives — both current and potential — Voterly tools help you engage more with your community.
