The City Clerk Association of California has presented Costa Mesa City Clerk Brenda Green with the 2022 Municipal Clerk of Distinction Technology and Innovation award.

“Brenda Green is an unsung hero at City Hall,” Mayor John Stephens said. “Recently, she seamlessly executed our redistricting project. Her department handles all public records requests and thousands of filings and inquiries. She prepares our City Council  agendas and minutes and provides support to the city’s commissions and committees. Brenda is a trusted teammate during our council meetings. I couldn’t get through a meeting without her. Brenda is very deserving of this recognition. Congratulations!”

Green was nominated for the award by Council Member Arlis Reynolds and Assistant City Manager Susan Price. In letters to the City Clerk Association, they both cited her innovation, dedication to the City and community and her professionalism.

Green, who has been the Costa Mesa City Clerk since 2012, was surprised when she learned she received this honor.

“I would like to thank the City Clerk Association for honoring me with this award and also Susan Price, Dina Wild, Stacy Bennett and Council Member Reynolds for the nomination,” she said. “I am so thankful and happy, but I did not achieve this award on my own. I share this with our entire City Clerk team, David Nguyen, Stacy Bennett, Gladys Gonzalez, Tammy Arrington, Sarah Bravo-Wetzel, Karen Walker, and Leslie Pacheco. Also, I would like to recognize Ron Dam and Jeff Trujillo, with CMTV for their collaboration.”

She also noted the obstacles of her job the last two years.

“One morning we woke up during a world-wide pandemic and had to craft workable solutions to continue to hold public meetings,” she said. “It definitely was an adventure in learning, but now we have hybrid meetings and have integrated Zoom, Granicus, Vote Lynx, and You Tube, so the public has access and can participate both remotely and in person with their government. I appreciate this honor for all of our hard work. Thank you.”

Green was instrumental in the implementation of the virtual technology needed to host City Council, Committee and Commission meetings, ensuring public access to City government during a global pandemic where many other amenities had restrictive access.

Most recently, Green has managed the City’s redistricting efforts that required public input and the City Council action to change the geographic boundaries of the City’s six council district based off the most recent 2020 Census data.

She also oversees all City elections and manages the City’s unique elections webpage that centralized election-related information in one place. The webpage is easy to navigate and includes key information such as candidate disclosure statements, ballot measures, a candidate resource guide, an election calendar, election-related notices and voter information, and an interactive district map.

Green manages the City’s Concierge Desk staff that handles residents calls and helps direct City Hall customer traffic to the right place.

Prior to her work in Costa Mesa, Green was the City Clerk in Stanton from 1999 to 2011. Before working for City government she worked as an executive assistant for two assembly members and one state senator in the California State Legislature from 1988 to 1998.

A Costa Mesa resident, Green has a bachelor’s degree in business from Southern Columbia University in Orange Beach, Alabama.