DeKalb City Clerk Peggy Hoyt has had little time to spare and it looks like her schedule will be packed again this year.

Hoyt has been the clerk for 16 years and is running uncontested in the April 20 election. In her first term she defeated three opponents, and she ran unopposed in her next two races. Last year, Hoyt’s previous deputy ran against her.

Hoyt said this election is a pretty typical one. “There’s usually a dozen candidates,” she said.

The mayoral race, however, strikes a different chord. “This is the first time I can remember in 16 years that the mayoral race is one on one,” Hoyt said.

As city clerk, Hoyt must perform various duties. “The most important task is taking the minutes of city council meetings,” she said. “It takes a great deal of time with the three meetings a month.”

Hoyt said extra meetings also are scheduled around budget time.

The city clerk’s office is in charge of all city documents. “We have to take care of all ordinances and resolutions passed by the council,” Hoyt said.

After filling these documents in with the necessary information, they must be distributed to the people who need them.

“City clerk is a constant bookkeeping job of recording as documents come in,” Hoyt said. Petitions, agreements, annexations and notices are some of the documents Hoyt must handle.

oyt has only one employee, a deputy clerk, in the office to help with the workload.

The office is also in charge of updating the municipal code. “It’s updated four times a year,” Hoyt said. “There are approximately 88 code books. When we make revisions, we make 88 copies to insert.”

There are 60 code books in the city department, and the rest are on a mailing list to realtors, attorneys and others who want to keep up with the municipal code, Hoyt said.

The code book is in looseleaf form to make insertion of changes easier, she said.

Hoyt’s office is also involved in the election process. The clerk’s office registers voters, handles petitions and files candidates’ ballots with the DeKalb county clerk.

Hoyt said she has seen many changes in her 16 years as city clerk. “When I started, all I had was a typewriter,” Hoyt said. “After my first year I got an electric typewriter with correction on it, which seemed like a real step up.”

In 1978, the office switched to a word processor, and now work is done with the WordPerfect computer program, Hoyt said.