CROOKSTON CITY CLERK ASHLEY RYSTAD WILL ATTEND MINNESOTA MUNICIPAL CLERKS AND FINANCE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE ON WEDNESDAY

In July 2022, Crookston City Clerk Ashley Rystad officially became a Minnesota Certified Municipal Clerk (MCMC) after completing a special program to earn the title and partake in a special conference in St. Cloud on Wednesday.

Rystad has worked with the City of Crookston for five years but began taking the course to receive the certification until she had been on the job for one year. The course usually takes three years for members to complete. However, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rystad needed four years to complete the course.
“Normally, this certification takes three years to make, and unfortunately, during the year of COVID, they did not have this institute, so normally it would take three years to take this MCMC class, but I had to do it four years, which I say was a great opportunity,” Rystad explained. “I got to focus on networking and to use Zoom as an option of networking and seeing how many different ways you can learn in an institute setting, meaning studying with other individuals in the same seats of a clerk, finance, and other information within their cities. It was a great opportunity for those years, and I’m excited to finally be done.”
To complete the MCMC Certification, Rystad had to complete several classes over the three years to learn several tasks that are a part of the City Clerk job.
“For the MCMC Certification, you must take classes over three years. What that entails is your first year is the standard data entry learning, Robert rules, and what your job would entail at a state level,” Rystad explained. “Then it goes further and further in detail, meaning by the end of it, you’re holding mock council meetings, making mock agendas, and all of the information you would need to be a City Clerk or Finance Director in the city area.”

With her certification in hand, Rystad has been invited to the Minnesota Municipal Clerks and Finance Officer Association (MCFOA) conference in St. Cloud on Wednesday, March 22, to receive more training, network with other clerks, and collaborate with other Municipal Clerks about upcoming events around the state.
“They’ll have keynote speakers and breakout sessions, and it’s to do with individualizing that we’re not just separate cities as we’re actually all in one. They’ll have anywhere from Data Entry to what’s up and coming with the elections for 2024,” said Rystad. “We started this presidential primary election, I believe, four years ago, and Minnesota hasn’t done a primary in a long time. I believe the last time was almost 20 years ago, so they’ll go over all the requirements we need to know for next year’s presidential primary, the primary, and the general election.”

Rystad will leave for the conference tomorrow morning and participate in the Minnesota Municipal Clerks and Finance Officer Association Conference until Friday, March 24.