SANTA PAULA : City Manager to Double as Clerk
The Santa Paula City Council has voted to postpone holding an election to fill its city clerk post, instead asking the city manager to temporarily handle the additional responsibilities.
The council voted this week to name City Administrator Arnold Dowdy the interim clerk as of Jan. 1, when City Clerk Stacey B. MacDonald leaves her post to become city manager of the Sierra Nevada town of Portola.
MacDonald announced her acceptance of the Portola position within weeks of her reelection to the $300-a-month post in November. In a report to the council, MacDonald said she opposed a special election to name a replacement, partly because of the $8,000 cost involved.
But she said that her opinion also reflected her belief that electing city clerks is a custom that has outlived its usefulness. “I don’t believe city clerks statewide should be elected officials,” said MacDonald, who ran unopposed in two election campaigns.
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