Per the City Charter, the Clerk is the official record keeper. That means preparing and maintaining minutes for City Council meetings, managing public packets, and keeping the City’s documents organized and accessible.
Rachel records minutes at City Council meetings, while Deputy Clerk Lexi Stibitz does the same for the Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals. She also supports Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) meetings and chairs the Election Commission, with Lexi recording the minutes.
The Clerk’s Office processes business registrations, voter registrations, and FOIA requests. It also maintains the systems that support transparency across City operations. “We look and touch everything that goes from staff to council,” Rachel explained. “We comb through it, edit it, format it, and it becomes the official public record.”
A key part of that day-to-day work falls to Administrative Assistant Tiffany Tyler, who processes more than 700 business registrations each year. Her efforts help ensure new and existing businesses stay in compliance and remain connected to City Hall.
Behind the Scenes of Every Election
In Michigan, elections are run at the municipal level, making the Clerk’s Office the heart of local voting operations. Rachel oversees it all, while her deputy coordinates precincts and election inspectors.
A major shift in recent years is the move to a permanent ballot list. The application process was eliminated, which made voting easier for residents but increased the office’s workload. “We send out over 6,000 ballots before every election,” Rachel said. “That is labeling, stuffing, preparing envelopes, signing, checking signatures, and tracking returns. Then multiply all of that by 6,200.”
The results show the impact. In the most recent election, about seventy-five percent of participating voters cast absentee ballots.
Early voting has also changed the process. Thanks to Prop 22, Norton Shores participates in a consolidated early voting site with other county jurisdictions. It has proven to be cost-efficient and smooth for voters. Rachel remembers staffing the site during the 2024 election. “Voters were kind and patient.”
A Career That Found Her
Rachel did not set out to become a City Clerk. She started as an administrative assistant after working in the credit union world. When the clerk retired and the deputy clerk accepted a position elsewhere, Rachel applied. “I kind of just fell here,” she said. “I still say I do not know what I want to be when I grow up.” But over time, she found her place in public service. “Seeing how the city is maintained and how it is run gives me confidence as a resident,” she said.
Her early years as a clerk were busy. “We had pretty much one hundred percent turnover in this office at the same time,” she said. She credits her team, especially Deputy Clerk Lexi, with helping the office transition smoothly. “I cannot do anything without my team. They are amazing.”
Keeping the City’s History and Future Organized
Rachel takes pride in modernizing the City’s record-keeping. With decades of paper files stored across City Hall, she has encouraged staff to scan documents and reduce printing. She is also overseeing the digitization of historical minutes from the 1960s and 1970s. “Why waste space or paper,” she said.
She also keeps an eye on storage and server capacity. “I look at everyone’s email threshold and personal drive threshold,” she said. The job was never formally assigned to her, but it helps the City keep digital clutter under control.
We Have Good Neighbors
For Rachel, the most meaningful moments come during election season, when the community is most engaged. She remembers attending statewide clerk trainings and realizing how closely Muskegon County jurisdictions work together. Norton Shores is an active member of the Muskegon County Clerk’s Association, where Rachel serves as the Director of Education and Lexi serves as the Vice President, roles that reflect their commitment to collaboration and continuous improvement.
Whether she is preparing council packets, managing thousands of absentee ballots, or guiding a resident through a public record request, Rachel’s work helps the City run smoothly. It is work that residents may not always see, but every resident benefits from it.
“Everything we do is about helping the public and supporting the team,” she said. “I am grateful for our residents and our council. They are great to work for.”
