As West Salem village administrator, Teresa Schnitzler has faced some hard questions. And some weird questions. “How do I get this bird poop off of my sidewalk,” is one of the latter.

She was asked the question shortly after the village installed neighborhood sidewalks between 1994 and 1996. Some residents, she said, were grumpy about being held responsible for maintaining the sidewalks in front of their houses.

Schnitzler and all municipal clerks in the state were recognized for tackling the hard (and weird) questions during Municipal Clerks Week, which runs April 30- May 6.

Schnitzler and fellow clerks including Onalaska City Clerk Cari Burmaster, Onalaska Town Clerk Sue Schultz and Holland Town Clerk Marilyn Pedretti, work in different communities but their work has plenty in common. All four are responsible for managing their municipality’s elections, preparing agendas for meetings, taking minutes, processing payroll for employees and issuing liquor licenses, among other things.

Burmaster said one of the great things about her job is that no two days are ever the same.

“I think my days vary a lot because you can’t say you actually know what’s going to be done,” Burmaster said. “You can come in with a plan and it changes. ... You have to be adaptable.”

Burmaster, who was appointed to the position, will have been on the job for five years as of July.

Schnitzler, who was also appointed, has been the village administrator four years and was village deputy for eight years. She agreed with Burmaster that there isn’t a “typical” day.

“It’s really geared by people and you try to fill in the rest when you can,” Schnitzler said. “Which is great — it’s never boring, it’s never the same thing.”

Pedretti also said she likes the variety her job provides and the chance to be able to work with people, listen to their opinions and answer their questions. She said she also likes working with town issues, although they can be a challenge, as well. “This township is growing and there’s going to be some tugging and pulling of issues and it’s been interesting to watch all that,” Pedretti said.

Pedretti was appointed to the position in 2002. Unlike many municipal clerks, Schultz was elected to her town of Onalaska position. She was first elected in 2003 and is serving her second two-year term.

Although elected, Schultz doesn’t get a vote on the town board. Clerks generally don’t, but that doesn’t mean they don’t pay attention to issues. Pedretti said she likes keeping up with town issues and lets herself be heard.

“Sometimes I voice my opinion even though I don’t get a vote,” Pedretti said.

Another difficult part of the job, Pedretti said, is explaining to people rulings they don’t like.

“If officials passed something in the past, that’s what you’ve got to do,” Pedretti said.

Schnitzler said it’s difficult just to get the message out to people. Despite posting village news in the local newspaper and the village’s brochure and newsletter, people still might not know what they should know about municipal affairs, Schnitzler said, and then they get upset they didn’t know about something.

Still, even challenging times can produce a good laugh. When the village’s neighborhood sidewalks were installed — sidewalks residents were required to pay for — one resident told Schnitzler when he moved out of the village, he was going to take “his” sidewalk with him, she said.

“Years and years later, when he said he was moving, I asked him if he was taking that sidewalk with him and he just grinned,” Schnitzler said.

Contact Emily Wilson at emily.wilson@lee.net or 786-6815