The City Clerk maintains the City's legislative records, official filings, and the Seattle Municipal Archives; keeps the minutes of City Council meetings; and provides information services to City agencies and the public. Seattle's first City Charter allowed for a Clerk of the Common Council to be elected by the Council. In 1875 the position of City Clerk became elective and remained so until 1896 when the new Charter designated the Comptroller ex-officio City Clerk. The Comptroller served as City Clerk through 1992. A 1991 City Charter amendment transferred the Comptroller's function to the Department of Finance and the City Clerk's Office became a division of the Legislative Department effective in 1993.
The Urban Renewal Advisory Board was established in 1958 to assist the city's new Urban Renewal Coordinator in developing a program to rehabilitate and redevelop "blighted areas" in Seattle. The Board was made up of representatives of agencies including the Building Department, the Parks Department, the School District, Public Health, and the Seattle Housing Authority. Minutes show that the Board talked about specific areas (such as the Yesler-Atlantic neighborhood) as well as more general issues such as parks, traffic, housing, and street lighting.
Records are open to the public.
A Comptroller or Clerk File (CF) can consist of correspondence, reports, petitions, contracts, agreements, etc. from elected officials, City departments, other government agencies, or the general public, which have been placed "on file" with the Office of the City Clerk (OCC). They are primarily permanent records, but also include routine material which was periodically purged. Certain archival records identified in the CF have been removed, arranged into records series, and incorporated into the collection of the Seattle Municipal Archives, a program of the OCC.
[Item and date], Urban Renewal Advisory Board Minutes, Record Series 1802-M9 Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.