Burke knows best

MOSES LAKE — As clerk for the City of Moses Lake, Debbie Burke knows her stuff.

“I like the responsibilities,” Burke said. “I’m a problem solver and like to make sure things get done right and according to law. It’s rewarding.”

And she has an award to prove it, too.

Burke is the winner of the 2022 President’s Award from the Washington Municipal Clerks Association — one of two annual awards given out by the statewide association of city clerks every year.

Burke, who has been the city’s clerk for the last four years, said her job is to make sure city council members have everything they need to prepare for public meetings, handle public records requests, notarize city documents and take care of the administrative part of insurance claims and lawsuits. She said she was nominated by both City Manager Allison Williams and former Mayor David Curnel.

“That was very humbling,” Burke said. “It was stiff competition.”

Moses Lake City Manager Allison Williams said Burke has perfected the role of city clerk by making city operations more efficient and effective.

“She understands the role and the professional requirements of the position and has brought our city to a new level,” Williams wrote in an email.

Burke said the WMCA not only looked at how she did her job, but also wanted to know how actively she volunteered in the community and what kind of changes or innovations she made in her job.

“I’ve been working on an electronic signature process, and I implemented the public records request policy,” she said. “I made it a city function rather than every department doing their own separate requests.”

Burke said she is also working with the city’s information technology department on an automated electronic document system for the city’s records.

“It’s very, very exciting,” she said.

Burke, who said she has nearly two decades of experience overseeing the management of small towns, including a stint as clerk and treasurer in Almira for seven years, said she plans on staying in Moses Lake for a while, noting that she likes the slower pace of life in Eastern Washington.

“Less traffic and less people. It’s low-key,” she said.

However, Burke also noted she has about three more years to go before she’s eligible to retire.

“I hope to have the deputy clerk trained to take over the role of the city clerk when I hit 20 years of service,” she said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.