Wesson Benefits From Experienced Leadership in City Clerk’s Office

By Bob Arnold

Angela Hester

When locals visit Town Hall, they often bump into City Clerk Angela Hester embarking on another trip or returning from one.

Hester, who joined Wesson government in 2017 as Court Clerk and Deputy City Clerk and took over as City Clerk not long afterwards, didn’t know at the time that she was signing up for all the meetings and associated travel that are part of the job.  No one told her to buy a set of durable luggage, but packing and unpacking bags and waiting at airports is a constant for Hester to keep pace with the demands of a working environment that changes every day with new laws and governmental change.

“I need to keep up,” Hester affirms.  “It’s about making sure we do government right in Wesson.  These aren’t pleasure trips.  I am learning and working most of the time at the meetings I attend and participate in.”

Hester attends conferences and trainings and plays leadership roles in the Mississippi Municipal Clerks and Tax Collectors Association (MMCTCA), the Mississippi Municipal Court Clerks Association (MMCCA) and the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC).

MMCTCA, including municipal clerks who serve as tax collectors in their municipalities or towns, provides a forum for discussion of problems common to municipal clerks and tax collectors and solving them through exchange of ideas and experiences, promotes the general welfare of Mississippi municipalities and upgrades the benefits, welfare and standards of its individual members.  Hester attends its spring, fall and winter conferences and serves as treasurer of the organization.  In spring 2026, the organization will conduct IIMC training to certify state city clerks.

Hester has served as vice president of MMCCA and will become its president in 2026.  The organization serves the crucial administrative officers, who are the record keepers, financial officers, and facilitators for municipal courts, responsible for managing dockets, processing cases, collecting fines/fees, administering oaths, preparing for court, and maintaining official city records, essentially linking the court, city government, and the public. It provides online problem-solving discussions of issues common to its more than 300 members and hosts an annual summer conference, which Hester attends.

IIMC is the leading professional organization for city/town clerks, secretaries, and recorders worldwide, founded in 1947 to enhance their professionalism through education, networking, and Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) and Master Municipal Clerk (MMC).  It provides resources, training, and conferences to support clerks in managing records, conducting elections, and supporting local government to assure high standards of public service. 

IIMC awarded Hester its CMC designation and she will attend its May 17-21, 2026, annual conference in Reno, Nevada, to continue work on her MMC.

“The CMC is more than a pin, a certificate and three letters at the end of a name,” IIMC Certification Manager Kellie Siggson told Hester. “It is a declaration that you are proficient in your important position and that you have demonstrated mastery of administrative skills critical to good government.”

For the CMC, Hester attended extensive education programs in which she earned 60 points toward the designation and demonstrated pertinent experience in work as Wesson Town Clerk to earn another 50 points.  She earned the designation over six years and is now in the four-year MMC program in which she will earn another 60 advanced education points and 40 professional contribution points.

IIMC, which established the CMC program in 1970, says it prepares designees “to meet the challenges of the complex role of Municipal Clerk by providing quality education in partnership with institutions of higher learning, as well as State, Provincial and National associations.” The program is designed to enhance the job performance of the Clerk in small and large municipalities alike.  In Mississippi, municipal clerks like Hester are central administrative officials, serving as the hub between citizens and government by managing official records (minutes, ordinances), running elections, handling public records requests, issuing licenses/permits, and providing key support for the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, essentially acting as the city's historian, record-keeper, and primary public contact. 

For Hester, the smaller state organizations are important, too.  That’s why when others were beginning to engage in the activities of the busy holiday season, you found her at the Sheraton in Flowood for 2025 MMCTCA winter conference December 10-12. 

The three MMCTCA conferences are coordinated by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the Center for Government and Community Development and Mississippi Institute of Municipal Courts, and the Winter conference covered “Customer Service and Public Relations in Local Government,” “Financial Basics:  Bank Reconciliations,” “From the Auditor’s Perspective:  Strengthening Accountability in Your City,” “Privilege License and Transient Vendor,” “Office Organization from Large to Small Municipalities” (a panel discussion), “Mississippi Municipal Service Company,” updates from the Mississippi Municipal League and PERS Tier 5 training.

The winter conference came as Hester was catching her breath from the October 8-10, 2025, fall conference that featured sessions on leadership development, “DOR Sales Tax & Modernization Funds,” asset management and modernization funds, wage garnishment and child support issues and “Best Practices in Human Resources.

As if the information and training sessions aren’t reason enough for Hester’s involvement in the organizations for municipal clerks, she values the networking at the meetings she attends.  “I meet people from all over the world as well as across the state,” she says.  “When we need help with something, I can go to municipal clerk elsewhere and usually find someone who can help.  Research we need.  The benefit of experience.  Advice on work.  Even a machine breaking down.”

So the next time you encounter Hester running off to the airport or readjust to work in her office after a trip, you might want to thank her for the role she plays in making Wesson government work.