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List of city clerks of Chicago

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City Clerk of Chicago
Seal of the City of Chicago
since January 25, 2017
Term length4 years
Salary$136,393
WebsiteOffice of the City Clerk of Chicago

The City Clerk of Chicago is in charge of record-keeping for Chicago, including for its elections, permits, licenses, and laws. When the Chicago City Council is in session, the City Clerk also serves as council secretary. The clerk is a citywide elected office, and is one of three city-wide elected officials in the City of Chicago, along with the Mayor and the Treasurer.

The current city clerk is Anna Valencia.

One former city clerk is more famous for his non-political activities: The late Baseball Hall of Famer Cap Anson served one term from 1905-1907.

Duties

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The City Clerk's office is responsible for maintaining official city government record (such as the Municipal Code of Chicago), distributing approximately 1.3 million vehicle stickers and residential parking permits, and issuing city business licenses.

Significant City Council transparency efforts have included posting nearly 700,000 pages of searchable City Council records to the City Clerk website, ChiCityClerk.com. This includes every ordinance passed since 1981, as well as city budgets and mayoral executive orders going back nearly 30 years. In addition, City Council meetings can be watched live or on demand via a City Council video archive on the City Clerk's website.

List of City Clerks

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City Clerks Term Notes
Anna Valencia 2017- Appointed in 2017, and elected in 2019.
Susana Mendoza 2011-2016 Elected in 2011 and 2015. Resigned in 2016 to become the Illinois Comptroller.
Miguel del Valle 2006-2011 Appointed in 2006, and elected in 2007. Resigned in 2011 to run for Mayor of Chicago.
James Laski 1995-2006 Elected in 1995, and re-elected in 1999 and 2003. Resigned in 2006 after his indictment for corruption.[1][2]
Ernest Wish 1993-1995 Appointed in 1993, and did not seek election to a full term.[3]
Walter Kozubowski 1979-1993 Elected in 1979, and re-elected in 1983, 1987, and 1991. Resigned in 1993 after pleading guilty to corruption.[4][5][6]
John C. Marcin 1955-1979 Elected in 1955, and re-elected in 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971, and 1975. In 1979, became alderperson for the 35th Ward.[4][7][8]
Ludwig D. Schreiber 1939-1955 Elected in 1939, and re-elected in 1943, 1947, and 1951.[4][9]
Peter J. Brady 1931-1937 [4]
Patrick S. Smith 1927-1931 [4]
Al F. Gorman 1923-1927 [4]
James T. Igoe 1917-1923 [4]
Joseph Siman 1917 [4]
John Siman 1915-1917 [4]
Francis D. Connery 1909-1915 He was elected in 1909. His term may have ended in 1915.[4][10]
John R. McCabe 1907-1909 [4]
Cap Anson 1905-1907 [4]
Fred C. Bender 1903-1905 [4]
William Loeffler 1897-1903 [4]
Charles A. Gastfield 1893-1895 [4]
James R.B. Van Cleave 1891-1893 [4]
Franz Amberg 1889-1891 [4]
D.W. Nickerson 1887-1889 [4]
C. Herman Plautz 1885-1887 [4]
John G. Neumeister 1883-1885 [4]
Patrick J. Howard 1879-1883 [4]
Caspar Butz 1876-1879 [4]
Joseph K.C. Forrest 1873-1875 [4]
Charles T. Hotchkiss 1869-1873 [4]
Albert H. Bodman 1865-1869 [4]
A.J. Marble 1861-1863 [4]
Abraham Kohn 1860-1861 [4]
H. Kreismann 1857-1860 [4]
Henry W. Zimmerman 1851-1857 [4]
Sidney Aboll 1848-1851 [4]
Henry B. Clarke 1846-1848 [4]
William S. Brown 1845-1846 [4]
Edward Rucker 1844-1845 [4]
James M. Lowe 1843-1844 [4]
James Curtiss 1842-1843 [4]
Thomas Hoyne 1840-1842 [4]
William H. Brackett 1839-1840 [4]
George Davis 1837-1839 [4]
Isaac N. Arnold 1837 Inaugural City Clerk[4][11]

Town Clerks

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The position of City Clerk was preceded by the position of Town Clerk, which existed after Chicago had been incorporated as a town and before Chicago was incorporated as a city.

City Clerks Term Notes
James Curtiss 1836-1837 Became Clerk in September 1836[12]
Ebenezer Peck 1836 [12]
Charles V. Dyer 1836 Resigned immediately after being elected at the June 6, 1936 town election (held at the Tremont House)[12]
Ebenezer Peck 1835 Coincidingly served as the town's Counsel[12]
Alexander N. Fullerton 1835 Elected in July 1835 town election[12]
Edwards W. Casey 1834-1835 Became Clerk in November 1834. Coincidingly served as Corporation Counsel.[12]
Isaac Harmon 1834 Elected clerk in August 11, 1834 town election. Coincidingly served as Town Collector.[12]
H. J. Hamilton 1833-1834 [12]
E. S. Kimberly 1833 Inaugural Town Clerk[11]

References

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  1. ^ "City Clerk Laski resigns after indictment". Crain's Chicago Business. 2006-02-06. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  2. ^ "Chicago Democracy Project - Election Results for 1995 General Election, City Clerk - Chicago, IL". chicagodemocracy.org. Archived from the original on 2017-01-05. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  3. ^ "Daley Has A Team All His Own - tribunedigital-chicagotribune". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am "Centennial List of Mayors, City Clerks, City Attorneys, City Treasurers, and Aldermen, elected by the people of the city of Chicago, from the incorporation of the city on March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1937, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the years during which each official held office". Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "Chicago Democracy Project - Election Results for 1979 General Election, City Clerk, Chicago, IL". chicagodemocracy.org. Archived from the original on 2017-01-05. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  6. ^ "Photography - Chicago Tribune". Chicago Tribune. 23 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-06-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Chicago". 1955.
  9. ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Ludwig D. Schreiber".
  10. ^ "Connery Chicago". freepages.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  11. ^ a b Blanchard, Rufus (1881). Discovery and Conquests of the North-west, with the History of Chicago. R. Blanchard & Company. pp. 424–433.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Andreas, Alfred Theodore (1884). History of Chicago. Vol. 1. Arno Press. pp. 175–176. ISBN 978-0-405-06845-4.
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