San Clemente : Clerk-Senior Aide Post Filled After 3 Months

After a three-month search that produced 51 candidates for the job, San Clemente last week hired a new city clerk to replace Max Berg, who retired in April after 29 years of service.

The new city clerk, Myrna Erway, who now holds a similar position in Grand Terrace, Calif., will assume her new duties Aug. 5 and fill out the balance of Berg’s elected term, which ends in 1988.

Erway will also assume Berg’s other job as senior administrative assistant. Because the city clerk earns only $4,500 a year, the administrative position was created several years ago in order to enable the city clerk to earn a living wage, said Jim Hendrickson, city manager.

Because the clerk is normally an elected office, the City Council decided to preclude a special election by voting to appoint Erway. Since the senior administrative assistant answers to the city manger, Hendrickson also had to hire her for that job.

The unusual move of hiring one person for two jobs was facilitated by a special committee consisting of Hendrickson, two council members and a clerk from a neighboring city, which narrowed the 51 candidates to three finalists.

“It was exceedingly difficult to narrow 51 candidates down to three,” Hendrickson said. “But it’s one of those decisions you love to make, because you’ll come out a genius no matter who you pick.”

Although Erway’s wage as clerk will total only $375 a month, her salary as a city administrator will be somewhat more substantial, Hendrickson said. The new clerk, who will face her first election three years from now, will earn nearly $31,000 a year as senior administrative assistant.