Griffith Is New Clerk, but Role Is Reduced

In a surprise move that ended three months of controversy, Rose Griffith--who lost a recent election bid for the city clerk’s post--was picked for the job Tuesday.

By a 3-2 vote, with City Council members Maria Avila and Ernest Gutierrez opposed, Griffith was picked from among seven candidates for the position--since drastically altered--that former Clerk Kathleen Kaplan left behind June 15 amid questions about her residency status.

The controversy was sparked after Kaplan, 42, an 11-year veteran of the job, bested Griffith in the April 14 election.

A week later, Griffith’s husband, Greg, presented to the council real estate papers documenting Kaplan’s ownership of a home in the Riverside County community of Moreno Valley. He accused the clerk of living outside the El Monte city limits in violation of state election codes.

Although Kaplan insisted that she rented a residence within El Monte and that her adult daughters live in the Moreno Valley home, the accusations prompted an investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The investigation was dropped after Kaplan resigned to take a job in the private sector.

El Monte Mayor Patricia Wallach then suggested that Griffith--a hospital emergency-room clerk--be appointed. But the council refused, instead encouraging other residents to apply.

On Tuesday, after spending nearly two hours interviewing applicants, some with decades of clerical experience, the council shifted its position again and chose Griffith.

A City Hall outsider whose confrontational supporters angered some council members, Griffith said she had expected Tuesday to give a speech and go home a loser. Indeed, Gutierrez said the behavior of Griffith’s supporters prompted his vote against her.

But Wallach, along with council members Tom Millett and Jack Thurston, said Griffith deserved the job because nearly 40% of the electorate voted for her in April.

“I think they were being fair, being as I did take out election papers,” a stunned Griffith said after the council vote.

The post that Griffith inherits is substantially different from the $50,000-a-year job she sought in April.

After Kaplan resigned, the City Council shaved $40,000 off the salary, reduced the job responsibilities and made it part-time work.

Duties formerly overseen by the city clerk are now performed by the deputy city clerk, who reports to the city administrator.

Essentially, the council changed a managerial, technical job to a minor political post in which job qualifications are less important, Millett said.

“It (the job description) was not crafted for Rose Griffith, but the council saw an opportunity . . . to do what other cities have done years and years ago,” the councilman said.