Karen S. Kim
BURBANK -- As City Clerk Judie Sarquiz seeks reelection, the 29-year
Burbank resident says that a heart for community service is the quality
that has most influenced her four-year term.
"[The city clerk's office] is the first point of contact for anyone in
the community who needs anything or has a question, and I just love being
able to be a part of that," Sarquiz said. "I know everything that's going
on. There's not a thing going on that I don't know about."
The daughter of former Burbank Mayor Larry Stamper, Sarquiz, 33,
became interested in public service early in life and began working at
Burbank City Hall 10 years ago. As an administrative assistant in various
city offices, including the department of public works, community
development, management services and the city manager's office, Sarquiz
says a knowledge of the inner workings of the city has helped in her
service as Burbank's city clerk.
Since her term began, Sarquiz has been implementing several projects
to make city government more accessible to the public, and she has
similar goals for her next term.
"She is a very professional city clerk, but she's very conscientious
and open to the public," said City Atty. Dennis Barlow, who works with
Sarquiz daily. "She goes far beyond what's required."
Establishing a document imaging system, which will make city records,
property histories and permit applications electronically available at
City Hall, has been one of Sarquiz's main projects for the last two
years. Instead of filling out a request form for city documents at the
city clerk's office, Sarquiz hopes to set up computer terminals at City
Hall where residents will be able to access the records themselves.
"It makes the records more accessible not only for the public but for
business within the city," she said. "It saves money, it saves paper and
makes everyone that much more efficient."
Sarquiz also hopes to improve the city's official Web site, adding
more resources for users, including a history of Burbank, a list of phone
numbers for city agencies and a calendar of city events. A difficult
undertaking Sarquiz would like to take on next term is updating and
reformatting the three volumes of Burbank's municipal code, a process she
thinks will take five years to complete.
Sarquiz is married to Richard, who teaches government and history at
Burbank High School. They have two daughters, Ashley, 8, and Sarah, 2.
A board member at the local YWCA and a volunteer at Burbank's thrift
store branch of La Providencia Guild, a fund-raising charity for the
Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Sarquiz says her enjoyment of service
to the community is the main reason she's seeking reelection on Feb. 27.
"I really love what I'm doing," she said. "I feel as if I'm giving
back, and in a lot of jobs you can't do that."
