“We tend to the first place people go,” said Sorensen, the city clerk who has worked for the city off and on since 1995. “City hall can be intimidating. Folks will call the clerk, because we know a little bit about about everything, but not a lot about all of it. We can at least get folks to the right place.”
Sorensen and her staff are tasked with keeping track of all property information and documents, like permits and plans, along with city council minutes, packets, agendas, resolutions, and passed ordinances. She also is in charge of elections in the city.
Blaine City Clerk Cathy Sorensen, right, assists a city election judge in 2018.
“It’s very vital to kind of be in the know and to know what projects are happening,” said Sorensen. “A new development in the city affects our department because we will obviously have new households–with new voters–coming into the city, so it all kind of pieces together. I kind of have to start thinking ahead, you know, five years, (to) what’s going to happen.”
The city hires 311 election judges for each election cycle, according to Sorensen.
“I need to make sure they know that they’re trained correctly in election law: what they can ask, what they can’t ask, and trying to make it easier for our judges so that when somebody comes to vote, (the judges) can determine their eligibility and then allow them to vote if they can.”
Sorensen has testified many times before Minnesota House committees in St. Paul on behalf of the League of Minnesota Cities about election law reforms and actions. She feels it’s necessary to make sure that as many people can vote as painlessly as possible in Blaine and every community in the state. It’s part of what seems like the never-ending election cycles of the modern political era.
“There’s many, many hours that happen ahead of the election,” said Sorensen. “Somebody in our city government mentioned it was kind of like planning for a wedding. You do all of the work ahead of time, but you’re never really there on the day because it’s all kind of happening while you’re still back here in the office.”
But the work of keeping residents, business owners, contractors, and city elected officials informed year-round continues for Sorensen. And she said she loves it.
“I like to help people. I always found that rewarding,” she said. “I may not know the answer but let me take (a customer) upstairs and we’ll get you to the Planning Department, where they do know the answer. We can get you all the information you need, so that’s the most rewarding part for me.”
