Recording History

BROOKSVILLE - Tucked away in a recessed office inside the county clerk's office, away from the chatter of people updating their drivers' licenses or applying for marriage certificates, sit three women behind closed doors.

They sit at non-cluttered desks, sometimes with headphones on and sometimes referring to hastily scrawled notes on legal pads.

Their names are Jenine Wimer, Tina Martinson and Sherry Crum. Their official titles are "minutes stenographers." But in reality, these three women would better be called, "The History-Keepers of Hernando County."

Their names may not be as familiar as Stephen King or John Grisham and what they write may never be best-sellers. But their work will live on long after Wimer, Martinson and Crum are gone.

For it is their job, day after day, week after week, to transcribe the proceedings of county commission meetings and other county-held gatherings into readable form. There is no room for error in their work. There's too much at stake.

Their handiwork appears on the county's Web site and becomes official public record. They are viewed by government junkies, developers, teachers, students and anyone who wants to know what happened at a certain meeting in Hernando County history.

Judy Korbus, the administrative services manager, shares the office with her charges and supervises the goings-on.

Korbus is the gate-keeper of the group, making sure the work product gets out efficiently and on-time. For deadlines are important in this job.

While one person is transcribing the minutes from a previous meeting, another is either preparing for the next one or helping out with the audio tapes or other recordkeeping.

Korbus says there is one obvious job requirement: you have to be a fast typist.

To keep up with what's being said at the meetings, they must be able to type 80 words a minute.

Another requirement: the recordkeepers must keep abreast of current issues. They can't come into a meeting "cold" without knowing what to expect.

When they go into a county commission meeting and sit down at the far left of the board platform, their works begins. They have to listen attentively and get the facts down accurately.

During the meeting, they must be ever-vigilant at their posts - only taking breaks when the board takes breaks.

If they miss a key vote or fact, they can ask for a board member to repeat it.

The record must be accurate.

In the old days, they would have to know shorthand. But in these computerized times, it's not a requirement, said Korbus, who started in the clerk's office in 1986.

The only time the stenographers take a break from typing and actually get their moment in the limelight is when they administer the oath to people who want to talk.

For most people, when the meeting is adjourned they go home. But for Korbus and crew, the work is just getting started.

Just The Facts

They don't write verbatim every word said. Nor do they have to identify every speaker and every word that is uttered.

They do have to make sure the main ideas are written down in a readable format. There are no quotes, only paraphrasing. The votes must be accurate, which is why they sometimes ask the board to restate the ayes and nays. They cannot editorialize.

Korbus stresses that the minutes should be reader-friendly.

"You want people to understand the content without getting too technical," she said.

The clerk's office has been keeping back-up minutes online since 1990. Prior to that, there were only written copies.

If they run into problems during the transcription, they can refer to an audiotape of the meeting.

Depending on the length of the meeting and how many others were scheduled during a particular week, it typically takes about two weeks before the minutes hit the government Web site at http://www.co.hernando.fl.us/

Frequently, after a meeting is over and the stenographer comes back to the office to start transcribing, the group will discuss how to approach an issue that occurred. Sometimes, especially during an especially technical meeting, the team helps each other out.

"We regularly question each other," she said.

But Korbus said Florida law is specific when transcribing. "No opinions, no embellishments and no changes."

Attorneys frequently refer back to the minutes if they are litigating a case or if there is a legal challenge. That's why accuracy is so important.

Teamwork In Action

All three stenographers say they love their job and realize its importance.

"I'm a word person," says Wimer, the veteran of the group who started 10 years ago.

She enjoys taking down what is said during a meeting and using her creativity to make it interesting to read online - all without changing the meaning.

Wimer said they function as a true team - throwing ideas at one another about how something should be worded or jogging someone's memory about a certain item.

Normally, each woman takes turns at a meeting. If one does a county commission meting, another might do a land use hearing the following week. Or a budget hearing. Or there is always a metropolitan planning organization or workshop or two that comes up.

Wimer jokes that sometimes when they know a hot controversy is expected to erupt during a certain meeting, the three might have a friendly contest to try and transcribe that particular meeting.

And because of her work, Wimer and her colleagues tend to read newspapers a bit differently than the average person.

Newspaper reporters have a bit more flexibility in crafting their articles because they can go outside the parameters of the meeting and elicit comments from other people who weren't there or either leave out extraneous bits.

The stenographers, however, must stick strictly to what was discussed and don't have the luxury of adding to the record.

Crum was living in Utah when she saw the ad for stenographer online. She was working as a secretary for a church at the time and decided to try out for the Hernando County position.

She's been on the job since 2002.

Her talent is speed typing. She can do 90 words a minute.

She admits she has gained a deep understanding of the inner workings of government by staying so close to the issues and being on top of things.

"It's interesting to see how the government is working and be a part of that," she said. "It's part of history."

Martinson, hired in 2001, may be the quietest of the three but her words speak volumes.

Born and raised in Tampa, she came to the job with secretarial experience. She enjoys using her judgment to decide what is important enough to go into the final record.

For example, if 50 citizens voice their concerns about a new residential community coming to their area, she is not required to write down every name and every comment.

She can write down the general tone of the meeting and note that several people spoke against something. And she is also free to leave out hyper-technical jargon, common at land use hearings.

But Martinson said she is careful not to change the intent of anything said by the participants.

Here, There And Everywhere

County Commissioner Chris Kingsley calls Wimer, Martinson and Crum "unsung heroes" whose work is underappreciated by many. In fact, many don't even notice them because they sit quietly during the meeting and are seated in the corner way from the participation.

But where there is the board, there is the stenographer.

They're the ones who have to sit during marathon meetings, such as this year's budget hearings which lasted until about 1 a.m.

If a meeting venue is changed, as was the case for the second budget hearing in September, one of Korbus' crew travels along.

Should the board go on-location to tour a site, as it did in 2006 when it visited the contaminated former public works compound, Wimer went along for the ride - writing down notes in her notebook while walking along.

"They're like the caretakers of the records here in Hernando County," Kingsley said.

Kingsley remembers when he ran for office the first time in 1998 and wanted to familiarize himself with current and past events.

"I went in and checked the public records for the issues I thought were important," he said. "They made copies and helped me out."

County Commissioner David Russell said he has the utmost respect for all three history-keepers.

"They're there keeping track, keeping record and keeping things straight," Russell said. "They do their job extremely well, as far as I'm concerned."