Inglewood Council Accepts City Clerk’s Resignation

After the City Council’s rejection of an earlier resignation attempt, City Clerk Iris Crochet resigned this week, effective July 15.

Crochet, 66, said she resigned because she wants to tend property she owns in Texas and “play more golf.”

Crochet said that because the council refused to accept the terms of the resignation she submitted in March, it will be unable to fill the post in the June 4 runoff election and instead must call a special election by November.

Crochet estimated that the second election will cost the city $35,000.

“I tried to save the city that money by resigning in time to meet the deadline,” said Crochet, whose term expires in 1987. “It’s unfortunate that it worked out this way.”

The council rejected Crochet’s earlier resignation because it carried the stipulation that she be appointed acting city clerk until an elected successor was seated.

Crochet said she requested the stipulation because “my predecessor left that way, and it makes for the smoothest transition.” Observers noted that her plan also would have denied an interim clerk the chance to run as an incumbent in the June race.

Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to accept Crochet’s unconditional resignation.

Mayor Edward Vincent said that while no official replacement has been named, he expects the council to appoint Deputy City Clerk Veronica Watro as interim clerk.

The city clerk’s job is classified as a $900-a-month part-time position in Inglewood, but Crochet has handled additional duties that bring her earnings to $32,000 a year.

Vincent, who in March said that the council might rescind those additional duties and the extra salary if Crochet left, said he has not decided whether he will ask the council to make such a move.

Crochet has held the clerk’s post since 1977, part of a public service career that began 30 years ago. She is the only woman ever to hold an Inglewood council seat, which she had from 1955 to 1963, when she lost a race for mayor. She also represented the city for 16 years as a director on the Central and West Basin Water Replenishment Board.