Advertisement “Two members had nominated me and I thought, in the whole state, I’m never going to get the award,” Burmaster said. “I was shocked.”
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Onalaska City Clerk Cari Burmaster was recently honored with an award from the Wisconsin Business and Professional Women.
Photo by Jo Anne Killeen |
While Burmaster believes the BPW chose her because she has overcome some major life challenges such as a divorce, single motherhood and a house fire — all in the same year, the award also recognized her leadership style.
“You lead people by raising people up with you,” Burmaster said. “You empower them to be able to be good leaders.” She has seen leaders come and go at her job managing elections for the city since 2001. With elections every two years for the city council, Burmaster stays on top of the laws and makes sure the city follows the letter of election laws.
The letters of the law might change soon as the Government Accountability Board considers implementation of early voting in Wisconsin.
“They’ll have to convince me it needs changing,” Burmaster said. “Yes, the current system is cumbersome, but I’m not convinced changing it would be any less cumbersome.”
Her determination shines through in her professional life as well as her personal life. Burmaster has been a member of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerk’s Association for eight years and has served on its mentoring committee for six years guiding newer clerks along when they have sticky issues.
Never one to shy away from sticky issues, Burmaster helped Wisconsin lay the groundwork for the Equal Pay Act in Wisconsin. “As a member of the issues management committee, I’ve worked with BPW for the last three years on this issue and it was finally signed this year.”
She is the chair of the local issues management committee for 2009-2010 and has served as president for two terms.
Burmaster hasn’t always been involved in the high-powered affairs of state. After graduating from Onalaska Luther High School in 1975, she attended cosmetology school from 1975-76 and worked in salons until 1983, when her second child, a daughter, was born.
With two children at home — a son was born in 1981 — Burmaster wanted to be with the children and opened her home to day care from 1983 to 1989. During all this, Burmaster studied for an associate degree in accounting from Western Technical College.
In 1993, Burmaster lost her marriage and her house, which burned to the ground. Determined to succeed, she rebuilt the house on the same lot and added being a Mary Kay consultant to her list of things to do.
“Those were real trying times,” Burmaster said.
She used that degree to land corporate accounting work until she took the job as the city’s clerk in 2001.
In addition to administering the clerk’s duties, Burmaster is responsible for payroll and budgeting for her department. While she loves the detail work, what Burmaster most likes is the variety. “I love helping people. I like what I do.”
hank wrote on Jul 9, 2009 10:01 PM: